 Richlands salon owner received nearly $30,000 in fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment funds. The U.S. Department of Justice reports that 36-year-old Mandi Dawn Hammond pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in connection with a major disaster or emergency benefits program and one count of mail fraud. Hammond fraudulently took taxpayer assistance. She owned and operated Jama Nail Beauty Bar & Gift Shop in Richlands. An executive order was signed by former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam in March 2020 that closed all close-contact salons and Hammond closed her business for about six weeks. In April 2020, she filed an application for pandemic unemployment assistance from the Virginia Employment Commission website. She legitimately received pandemic unemployment assistance as intended by the government. In May 2020, the executive order was lifted, and she reopened her business, but she kept filing weekly certifications to receive pandemic unemployment benefits through August 2021. Hammond received at least $29,154 in funds that she was not entitled to. Hammond is scheduled to be sentenced on September 15 and could face up to 30 years in prison.
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