Ex-Massachusetts lawmaker convicted of scamming pandemic unemployment funds

BOSTON (AP) — Former Massachusetts state Sen. Dean Tran was convicted Wednesday of scheming to defraud the state Department of Unemployment Assistance and collecting income that he failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service. Tran, 48, of Fitchburg, was convicted on 20 counts of wire fraud and three counts of filing false tax returns after a six-day trial. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 4. After his term ended in 2021, Tran fraudulently received pandemic unemployment benefits while simultaneously employed as a paid consultant for a New Hampshire-based retailer of...