Detroit Man Pleads Guilty to $1.9 Million Pandemic Benefits Fraud

Overview

• Wilder, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Monday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, and he faces up to 20 years in prison at a July 30, 2026 sentencing.
• Prosecutors say he filed hundreds of bogus unemployment claims in multiple states using real people’s identities without their consent.
• He accessed the stolen benefits using ATM cards issued in victims’ names, causing about $1.8 million in losses to unemployment programs.
• He also admitted obtaining two Paycheck Protection Program loans in his own name totaling roughly $84,000.
• The Department of Labor’s inspector general, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency led the probe, part of a broader crackdown on pandemic-relief fraud.