Rockingham County man faces fine, prison in Covid fraud case

CONCORD - A Rockingham County Grand Jury has returned indictments against a man accused of bilking unemployment funds of 37,000 in Covid relief funding.

According to the indictments, from April 2020 to March 2021 Michael Rock, 65, allegedly submitted false unemployment claims to the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security.

The indictments allege that he failed to disclose his full-time employment as a sales representative with Danvers-SB, Inc. dba IRA BMW of Stratham, and that as a result he allegedly received more than $37,000 in unemployment compensation, including enhanced federal COVID-19 benefits, while continuing to work.

Rock is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 19 in Rockingham County Superior Court. Each Class A felony offense is punishable by up to 7 ½ to 15 years in state prison, a fine, or both.

The investigation was conducted by the Department of Employment Security's Benefit Payment Control Unit.

The charges and allegations against Mr. Rock are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.