Jackson State football player arrested for COVID Unemployment Benefits Scheme
Abdul-Malik McClain a linebacker for Jackson State University was arrested on Monday and is being accused of running a scheme in which he and other football players filed for thousands of dollars in COVID-19 related unemployment benefits.
McClain who transferred from USC, plead not guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to 10 counts of mail fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. He was released after posting $20,000 bond. He is due back in court on Feb. 15.
By the sound of it there could be more football players involved. The crimes happened in the summer of 2020 when he was in Los Angeles and playing for USC.
The indictment says Bank of America mailed debit cards loaded with hundreds or thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits to the football players, who used the cards to withdraw cash from ATMs.
Jackson State will get the blunt of the bad publicity but this happened while he was at USC and playing for USC.
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