BATON ROUGE - A Louisiana Workforce Commission employee was indicted for committing wire fraud of through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program enacted by the CARES Act for financial relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paris Haynes, of Baton Rouge, was a full-time employee of the Louisiana Workforce Commission while she worked from a temporary residence in Texas.

A court document said Haynes, between 2020 and 2021, made changes to approximately 40 accounts of claimants to put pandemic unemployment assistance benefits in her bank accounts or accounts under her control. Haynes also claimed she was unemployed due to the pandemic when she was terminated from her prior employment for misconduct.

Haynes obtained at least $200,000 in benefits she was not entitled to, the Middle District of Louisiana said.