Brooklyn woman scammed NYC out of free hotel rooms reserved for frontline pandemic workers

A Brooklyn woman admitted Tuesday that she turned New York City’s hotel room program for COVID-19 frontline health care workers into an off-the-books lodging service.

Tatiana Daniel, 28, pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and could face up to five years in prison.

She and three others defrauded the city’s Hotel Room Isolation Program to the tune of more than $400,000. The program was created in March 2020 to quarantine health care workers and coronavirus patients at the height of the pandemic, with the city footing the bill for the hotel rooms.

Daniel pretended to be a respiratory therapist to secure six nights of hotel rooms, then used Facebook to rent out those rooms.

“Today I will be doing hotels from 2pm - 9pm,” she wrote on Facebook, according to court documents. “If you would like to book a hotel please comment below 300$ 1 month 250$20 days 150$ 10 days 100$ 3 days MUST BE CASH APP READY ”.

She and accomplices teamed up with Chanette Lewis, who worked at the city Office of Emergency Management call center, which handled reservations for the rooms, federal prosecutors allege. The fraudsters booked more than 2,700 overnight stays, costing the government more than $400,000.

Daniel also ran a bogus document mill to sell fake COVID-19 test results, got thousands of dollars in pandemic loans she fraudulently applied for, and illegally collected unemployment benefits in several states, authorities said.

A city Department of Investigation probe uncovered the fraud, leading to the arrest of Daniel, Lewis and two others in October 2021. The cases against Lewis and the other two are still pending.

“This defendant used the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on New York City as an opportunity for fraud and personal profit,” Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said.

Daniel will be sentenced March 29.