https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/andrew-kerobo-deonta-belser-accused-helping-steal-6-million-ohio-pandemic-unemployment-assistance-program-funds-login-not-canceled-after-termination

A Franklin County grand jury indicted 17 people on a scheme to file fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims, netting over $6.8 million in erroneously released funds.

According to the State's Office of the Inspector General, former college football teammates Andrew Kerobo, 25, and Deonta Belser, 25, along with 15 other co-conspirators, face 40 counts, including Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity, Aggravated Theft, Tampering with Records, Telecommunications Fraud, Identity Fraud, and Money Laundering.

An IG report released on Dec. 19 said Kerobo was an outside contractor employed by Randstad as a seasonal teleservices representative at the Ohio Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

The report said Kerobo was fired after 75 days and approved 13 fraudulent claims worth $36,803. However, his login credentials were not deactivated, and Kerobo allegedly approved $6,827,460 in 435 claims after he was fired.

His former football teammate, Deonta Belser, who he played with in 2018 on the Highland Community College Men's varsity football team in Kansas, was allegedly the one responsible for crowd-sourcing claimants, gathering their information and then relaying that claimant information to Kerobo. They then took a percentage of the funds for themselves.

Belser briefly played football for Bowling Green State University before moving back to Cincinnati during the pandemic.