Victorville Woman Sentenced to 2½ Years in Federal Prison for Using Inmates’ Info

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California dated June 26, 2023. It announces that Cynthia Ann Hernandez, a.k.a. "Cynthia Roberts," of Victorville was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark C. Scarsi to 30 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $515,138 in restitution for fraudulently obtaining more than $500,000 in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits. Hernandez pleaded guilty on January 23 to one count of mail fraud and one count of access device fraud, according to the release. It states that during the summer of 2020 Hernandez filed applications with the California Employment Development Department in the names of persons incarcerated in the state prison system, causing at least 29 fraudulent applications, with debit cards mailed to Hernandez's address.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

PRESS RELEASE



Victorville Woman Sentenced to 2½
Years in Federal Prison for Using
Inmates’ Info to Illegally Obtain
Over $500,000 in COVID Jobless
Aid
Monday, June 26, 2023


For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California

LOS ANGELES – A San Bernardino County woman was sentenced today to 30 months in
federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $500,000 in pandemic-related
unemployment insurance (UI) benefits by using the names of inmates locked up the
California state prison system.

Cynthia Ann Hernandez, 33, a.k.a. “Cynthia Roberts,” of Victorville, was sentenced by
United States District Judge Mark C. Scarsi, who also ordered her to pay $515,138 in
restitution.

Hernandez pleaded guilty on January 23 to one count of mail fraud and one count of
access device fraud.

During the summer of 2020, Hernandez filed with the California Employment
Development Department (EDD) fraudulent applications for UI benefits in the names of
persons incarcerated in the California state prison system and who were ineligible to
receive jobless benefits. EDD manages California’s unemployment insurance benefit
program.

Hernandez falsely stated on the UI benefits applications that the named claimants were
individuals whose employment had been negatively affected by the COVID-19
pandemic and were eligible for pandemic unemployment assistance under the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Congress passed the CARES
Act in March 2020, in part, to help individuals whose employment and finances were
adversely affected by the pandemic.

The applications also falsely stated that the named claimants were eligible for the UI
benefits and that they resided and worked in Los Angeles and Orange counties. EDD
then authorized Bank of America to issue debit cards in the claimants’ names that were
mailed to Hernandez’s mailing address.

In total, Hernandez caused at least 29 fraudulent applications to be filed with EDD.

“[Hernandez] orchestrated a sophisticated scheme that deprived the state of over
[$500,000] meant to provide relief for vulnerable taxpayers who were unable to work
due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “She
did so by applying for UI benefits for people who were plainly ineligible and did so for
her own financial gain.”

This matter was investigated by the United States Department of Labor, Office of
Inspector General; the California Employment Development Department, Investigation
Division; Homeland Security Investigations; the California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation; the United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of
Inspector General; the United States Postal Inspection Service; and United States
Customs and Border Protection’s Special Response Team.

Assistant United States Attorney Haoxiaohan Cai of the General Crimes Section
prosecuted this case.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can
report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud
Hotline at (866) 720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form
at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Contact
Thom Mrozek
Director of Media Relations
thom.mrozek@usdoj.gov
(213) 894-6947

Updated June 26, 2023

Topics
CORONAVIRUS
FINANCIAL FRAUD


Component
USAO - California, Central
Press Release Number: 23-139


File and source

File

2023-07-03-Victorville-Woman-Sentenced-to-2-Years-in-Federal-Prison-for-Using-Inmates-Info-to-Illegally-Obtain.pdf

Size

170,288 bytes

SHA-256

851993424cfb9670771cb8d794a66a6d1b166d396eb92e94690f5342722cd9b8

Our copy

2023-07-03-Victorville-Woman-Sentenced-to-2-Years-in-Federal-Prison-for-Using-Inmates-Info-to-Illegally-Obtain.pdf

Original

No public link identified.