DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A California man charged with setting up fake businesses in Iowa and two other states to obtain more than $355,000 in unemployment benefits for nonexistent workers has pleaded guilty in federal court and will be sentenced next month.
Court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Iowa say Nikolai Monastyrski has pleaded guilty to all charges contained in a 14-count indictment alleging wire fraud and mail fraud.
A November 2016 complaint says Monastyrski defrauded Iowa Workforce Development of more than $114,000, collected $230,000 from Illinois and $11,300 from Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors say Monastyrski, who requires a Russian interpreter in court, ran the scheme from his Folsom, California, apartment.
Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger on Thursday set his sentencing date for Jan. 8 in Davenport. She had accepted his guilty plea in September.
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