At first glance, David Ray appeared to be the model family man.
A married grandfather and practicing Mormon from the small California town of Ione, he had worked for the same trucking company for 38 years.
By 2019, however, the 62-year-old was leading a secret life online.
Ray’s attorney, Brian Getz, said his client struggled with a pornography addiction and maintained “a rich imaginary life” that drew him to sugar-daddy websites—and to a 26-year-old brunette living across the country.
Aryanah Davison lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. According to Getz, she quickly recognized what Ray was seeking and supplied it: sexually explicit photographs.
Ray became so infatuated that he opened lines of credit and bought Davison a luxury SUV.
When his money began to run out, though, the online relationship took a darker turn. Ray handed over the personal information of hundreds of colleagues, helping Davison and her boyfriend steal millions of dollars from taxpayers.
The extraordinary scheme has now brought consequences for all three people involved. One of the alleged fraudsters is already serving a 10-year federal prison sentence.
Aryanah Davison, 26, was described as “young, pretty, flexible and good at posing”
She captivated California trucker David Ray, 68, pictured with his wife, Cindy, and two of their grandchildren
Getz told Our News Outlet that Davison quickly identified Ray’s interest in pornography and used it to pull him further into their online connection.
“She found out that he liked pornography and had a rich imaginary life,” Getz said.
“She sent him pictures of a pornographic nature, which were consistent with his addiction.”
Getz described Davison as “young, pretty, flexible and good at posing,” saying she had targeted Ray’s “base instincts.”
The two exchanged messages for months after meeting online in 2019.
Davison eventually traveled across the country to meet Ray. Despite the provocative photographs and suggestions that their relationship might become more intimate, Getz said they did not have sex.
“At the meeting, it was just a discussion. They did not have any contact of a sexual nature,” he said.
Ray nonetheless came to believe the relationship could eventually develop into something deeper.
Getz said his client was “succumbing to her entreaties and her promise of a closer relationship later, which of course never was consummated.”
As he tried to keep Davison interested, the married grandfather sank deeper into debt.
In a 2020 social media post, Davison appeared to show off a $56,000 First Edition Range Rover that Ray had purchased for her.
Prosecutors, however, said another man was orchestrating the operation behind the scenes.
Davison’s boyfriend, Ardavan Alamoutinia, 36, of Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, encouraged her to create the online profile and look for potential victims, prosecutors said.
Our News Outlet obtained photographs of Davison, Alamoutinia and Ray, providing a glimpse into the people at the center of the alleged fraud.
Ray wired money and even bought Davison a luxury SUV to keep the explicit photographs coming
Davison’s boyfriend, Ardavan Alamoutinia, 36, allegedly helped run the scheme and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison
The couple lived together in a brick-and-clapboard home in Hummelstown, a historic community in Dauphin County. Their social media accounts showed them traveling around the country and enjoying expensive vehicles.
Davison also appeared to display the benefits of her relationship with Ray online, while Alamoutinia allegedly helped transform his personal obsession into a multimillion-dollar criminal enterprise.
As Ray’s debts grew, he allegedly agreed to give the couple personal information belonging to 375 current and former employees at his California trucking company.
Court records say Davison instructed him to obtain identifying documents from employee personnel files and send them to her.
Ray was reportedly careful because the records were not stored in one central location, forcing him to request information from coworkers.
“He ran out of money, but wanted to keep cultivating his efforts with this woman that he was fantasizing about,” Getz said.
Prosecutors said the stolen information became the foundation of a nationwide benefits-fraud operation.
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According to the indictment, Davison and Alamoutinia used the identities to file more than 500 fraudulent applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a program established to help people whose livelihoods were disrupted by COVID-19.
The applications were submitted in 27 states, falsely claiming that the named individuals had lost work because of the pandemic.
The people whose identities were used had not applied for the assistance and were unaware that claims had been filed in their names, the indictment says.
State agencies issued the benefits through direct deposits, checks and prepaid debit cards. Davison and Alamoutinia allegedly collected the money, withdrew cash, transferred funds between accounts and spent the proceeds.
The government estimated its losses at no less than $2,886,876. Prosecutors said the pair converted at least $2.5 million of the fraudulent proceeds, including hundreds of thousands of dollars directed toward cryptocurrency.
Court files reviewed by Our News Outlet say the money also helped pay for luxury purchases, including a high-performance 2021 Audi RS7.
The alleged operation continued from March 2020 through November 2022, when investigators intervened. A federal grand jury indicted Davison and Alamoutinia in May 2023.
Both later pleaded guilty. Alamoutinia was sentenced in September to 120 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
In 2020, Davison appeared to post about the $56,000 First Edition Range Rover Ray had purchased for her
Davison is scheduled to be sentenced in January for her role in the multimillion-dollar COVID benefits scheme
U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sánchez also ordered him to pay $3,177,376 in restitution.
His guilty plea covered conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, 10 counts of mail fraud, theft of government money and aggravated identity theft.
Davison pleaded guilty in January 2025 and is scheduled to be sentenced in January. Details of her plea agreement were not available.
Prosecutors previously said she faced a statutory maximum sentence of 232 years, though that figure does not predict the punishment she will ultimately receive.
Ray, now 68, was also prosecuted for his role. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to wire fraud, mail fraud and identity theft, admitting that he provided the information used to target his coworkers.
During his sentencing in Philadelphia on November 4, Ray told the judge that he had failed to control his impulses while communicating with Davison.
“I allowed myself to be corrupted,” he said.
Prosecutors acknowledged that Ray had been manipulated, but argued that he was not merely an innocent victim.
He knew the information belonged to his colleagues and received more than $144,000 from the scheme, according to the government’s sentencing submission.
“When life got tough, David Ray sold out his co-workers and friends—and earned over $144,000 doing it,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant knew better.”
Ray’s attorney said his client has since tried to rebuild his life with the support of therapy, family and his Christian faith.
“He’s trying to control his base instincts and is doing a very good job of it,” Getz said.
“He doesn’t look at any pornography. He still has therapy once a week. He still reads scriptures every night.”
Attorney Brian Getz described Davison and Alamoutinia as “equal partners” in the massive fraud
Davison traveled to California at one point to meet Ray in person
Ray’s wife, Cindy, was in court when her husband received a one-year prison sentence.
He has not yet been assigned to a detention facility, has secured a new trucking job and is living in the couple’s $400,000 bungalow.
The case emerged amid one of the largest benefits-fraud scandals in U.S. history.
The Government Accountability Office estimated that between $100 billion and $135 billion in unemployment insurance payments made during the pandemic were fraudulent.
The estimate covered programs nationwide from April 2020 through May 2023, when fraudulent payments accounted for between 11% and 15% of all benefits distributed.
The Pennsylvania case offered a particularly stark example of how criminals exploited the emergency system, combining stolen identities with the cooperation of a vulnerable insider to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in public benefits.
Our News Outlet contacted Davison and Alamoutinia, as well as their attorneys and relatives, for comment.
