A woman in Batavia has been arrested after allegedly collecting $100,000 in benefits she was not entitled to.
Danielle Tooley, 36, is charged with wire fraud and theft of government funds.
She and other defendants are accused of using personal information of others to collect unemployment benefits from the federal COVID-19 relief programs.
This happened between July and December of 2020.
The scheme was discovered in November when Tooley was caught with a crack pipe and residue during a traffic stop before being arrested.
On her, they found six state unemployment benefit cards for other people.
Upon further investigation, surveillance footage at multiple banks showed Tooley withdrawing funds from the cards.
In total it is believed she stole $99,141.39 from the government.
Tooley faces the possibility of 30 years in prison and a $1 million dollar fine.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected]