A federal grand jury in Abingdon has indicted 17 people with conspiring to defraud the United States by filing fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment benefits, according to the US Attorney’s Office. According to court documents, a scheme to steal money intended for legitimate victims of the impacted Virginia economy – was begun by three ringleaders, who gathered dates of birth, social secutity info, and other peronsal details of friends and acquaintances incracreated at the Haysi Jail in Dickenson County. They then filled out pandemic unemployment claim forms for the inmates amnd netted more than 340-thousand dollars.