Oregon Woman Faces 10 Years in Prison for Stealing Over $560,000 in COVID Unemployment Benefits

Tamara Fulmer (47) of Seaside faces 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty yesterday to stealing $567,000 in COVID unemployment benefits from the Oregon Employment Department (OED).

According to court documents, Fulmer made fraudulent applications for pandemic unemployment insurance benefits using the personal information of 27 individuals between May 2020 and October 2021.

She received $567.930 in insurance benefits and deposited at least 236 unemployment insurance checks for $68,773 into her personal bank account. Fulmer cashed many of the checks at a Seaside gas station.

OED also paid Fulmer an additional $13,353 after she falsely claimed not to have received disability payments since 2004.

A federal grand jury in Portland returned a one-count indictment charging Fulmer with Theft of Government Property on February 19, 2025. She will be sentenced on February 18, 2026, before a U.S. District Court Judge.

Fulmer agreed to forfeit the proceeds and pay $581,283 in restitution, as recommended by the government.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and was prosecuted by Meredith D.M. Bateman, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can call the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.