Information — United States v. Gabriela Llerenas, Central District of California (Document 1)

Summary

An Information filed September 8, 2021 as Document 1 in United States v. Gabriela Llerenas, aka "Maria G. Sandoval," No. 5:21-cr-00187-JWH, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, charging mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1341. It alleges that from April 2020 through at least October 2020 the defendant filed unemployment insurance applications with California's Employment Development Department asserting that named claimants were self-employed independent contractors affected by COVID-19, triggering Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. According to the Information, some names and Social Security Numbers came from the defendant's prior work as a tax preparer, and some applications inflated income or invented occupations. It states the scheme caused approximately 197 fraudulent PUA claims and losses of at least $1,633,487.

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       Case 5:21-cr-00187-JWH Document 1 Filed 09/08/21 Page 1 of 6 Page ID #:1




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                                                     9/8/2021
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                                                         JB

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 8                           UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
 9                     FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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11   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                No. CR    5:21-cr-00187-JWH

12             Plaintiff,                     I N F O R M A T I O N
13                   v.                       [18 U.S.C. § 1341: Mail Fraud]
14   GABRIELA LLERENAS,
       aka “Maria G. Sandoval,”
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               Defendant.
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          The Acting United States Attorney charges:
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                              [18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 2(b)]
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     A.   INTRODUCTORY ALLEGATIONS
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          At times relevant to this Information:
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          1.    Defendant GABRIELA LLERENAS, also known as “Maria G.
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     Sandoval,” was a resident of Perris, California.
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          2.    California’s Employment Development Department (“EDD”) was
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     the administrator of the unemployment insurance (“UI”) benefit
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     program for the State of California.
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          3.    On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States
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     declared COVID-19 an emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
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      Case 5:21-cr-00187-JWH Document 1 Filed 09/08/21 Page 2 of 6 Page ID #:2




 1   Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.       As a result, Congress passed

 2   the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”),

 3   which the President signed into law on March 27, 2020.          The CARES Act

 4   provided over $2 trillion in economic relief protections to the

 5   American people from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-

 6   19.

 7         4.   Prior to the enactment of the CARES Act, to be eligible for

 8   UI administered by EDD, a person had to have been employed and worked

 9   in California and received at least a certain amount of wages from an

10   employer in the 18 months preceding his/her UI benefits claim.

11   Because of this requirement, self-employed workers, independent

12   contractors, and employees with insufficient earnings were not

13   eligible to receive regular UI benefits.

14         5.   The CARES Act established a new program –- Pandemic

15   Unemployment Assistance (“PUA”) -- to provide unemployment benefits

16   during the COVID-19 pandemic to people who did not qualify for

17   regular unemployment insurance benefits, including business owners,

18   self-employed workers, independent contractors, and those with a

19   limited work history who were out of business or had significantly

20   reduced their services as a direct result of the pandemic.           UI

21   benefits provided under the PUA program are sometimes referred to as

22   PUA benefits.

23         6.   Under the PUA provisions of the CARES Act, a person who was

24   a business owner, self-employed worker, independent contractor, or

25   gig worker could qualify for PUA benefits administered by EDD if

26   he/she previously performed such work in California and was

27   unemployed, partially unemployed, unable to work, or unavailable to

28   work due to a COVID-19-related reason.
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      Case 5:21-cr-00187-JWH Document 1 Filed 09/08/21 Page 3 of 6 Page ID #:3




 1           7.    Persons applying for PUA benefits did not need to submit

 2   any supporting documents to EDD with their applications.          Claimants

 3   entered their total income for the 2019 calendar year on the

 4   application.     The stated income was used to pay the minimum benefits

 5   of $167 per week.     EDD could request documentation to provide proof

 6   of the stated income.

 7           8.    A PUA claimant was required to answer various questions to

 8   establish his/her eligibility for PUA benefits.         The claimant was

 9   required to provide his/her name, Social Security Number, and mailing

10   address.      The claimant was also required to identify a qualifying

11   occupational status and COVID-19 related reason for being out of

12   work.

13           9.    After it accepted a UI claim, including a claim submitted

14   pursuant to the PUA program, EDD typically deposited UI funds every

15   two weeks to an Electronic Bill Payment (“EBP”) debit card

16   administered by Bank of America (“BofA”), which the claimant could

17   use to pay for his/her expenses.      The EBP card was mailed via the

18   United States Postal Service to the claimant at the address the

19   claimant provided in his/her UI application.

20   B.      THE SCHEME TO DEFRAUD

21           10.   Beginning no later than April 2020 and continuing through

22   at least October 2020, in Riverside and Los Angeles Counties, within

23   the Central District of California, and elsewhere, defendant

24   LLERENAS, together with others known and unknown to the Acting United

25   States Attorney, knowingly and with the intent to defraud, devised,

26   participated in, and executed a scheme to defraud EDD and the United

27   States Treasury as to material matters, and to obtain money and

28   property from EDD and the United States Treasury, namely, UI
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      Case 5:21-cr-00187-JWH Document 1 Filed 09/08/21 Page 4 of 6 Page ID #:4




 1   benefits, including PUA benefits, by means of material false and

 2   fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, and the

 3   concealment of material facts.

 4        11.     The fraudulent scheme operated, in substance, as follows:

 5                a.   Defendant LLERENAS filed and caused the filing with

 6   EDD of fraudulent applications for UI benefits that falsely asserted

 7   the named claimants were self-employed independent contractors who

 8   had been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby

 9   triggering eligibility for UI benefits under the PUA provision of the

10   CARES Act.    Defendant LLERENAS obtained some of the names, Social

11   Security Numbers and other identifying information she used to submit

12   the fraudulent claims through her prior work as a tax preparer.

13                b.   In some instances, defendant LLERENAS falsely asserted

14   and caused to be asserted on the UI applications submitted in

15   furtherance of the scheme that the claimants were residents of

16   California entitled to UI benefits administered by EDD when, in fact,

17   they were not and defendant knew they were not.

18                c.   In some instances, defendant LLERENAS falsely asserted

19   and caused to be asserted inflated income for the named claimants on

20   their applications in order to receive the maximum benefit amount.

21                d.   In some instances, defendant LLERENAS made up and

22   caused to be made up the occupation that was listed for the named

23   claimant on the application.

24                e.   To the contrary, and as defendant LLERENAS then well

25   knew, many of the persons named as claimants on the applications

26   defendant LLERENAS filed and caused to be filed had no residential

27   history in the State of California and/or had not been employed in

28   the occupations defendant LLERENAS reported and caused to be reported
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      Case 5:21-cr-00187-JWH Document 1 Filed 09/08/21 Page 5 of 6 Page ID #:5




 1   on the UI benefits applications she submitted and caused to be

 2   submitted in the names of the named claimants.

 3               f.   By falsely asserting that the claimants had worked in

 4   the State of California as independent contractors who had lost work

 5   because of COVID-19, defendant LLERENAS falsely represented and

 6   caused to be falsely represented that the named claimants were

 7   entitled to UI benefits administered by EDD when, as defendant

 8   LLERENAS then knew, they were not.

 9               g.   As a result of the fraudulent UI benefit claims that

10   defendant LLERENAS filed and caused to be filed, EDD authorized BofA

11   to issue EBP cards in the names of the named claimants.          Defendant

12   LLERENAS knew that the applications she submitted would cause BofA to

13   mail the EBP debit cards issued to the named claimants to the

14   addresses defendant LLERENAS provided and caused to be provided on

15   the fraudulent claim applications, including in some instances

16   addresses that defendant LLERENAS and/or her associates controlled.

17         12.   Through this scheme, defendant LLERENAS caused

18   approximately 197 fraudulent PUA claims to be filed with EDD

19   resulting in losses to EDD and the United States Treasury of at least

20   $1,633,487.

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      Case 5:21-cr-00187-JWH Document 1 Filed 09/08/21 Page 6 of 6 Page ID #:6




 1   B.   USE OF THE MAILS

 2        13.   On or about August 6, 2020, within the Central District of

 3   California, and elsewhere, defendant LLERENAS, for the purpose of

 4   executing the above-described scheme to defraud, willfully caused an

 5   envelope containing a BofA debit card issued in the name of Jo. G. to

 6   be sent and delivered by the United States Postal Service, according

 7   to the directions thereon, to an address in Compton, California.

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                                             TRACY L. WILKISON
 9                                           Acting United States Attorney
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                                             SCOTT M. GARRINGER
12                                           Assistant United States Attorney
                                             Chief, Criminal Division
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                                             RANEE A. KATZENSTEIN
14                                           Assistant United States Attorney
                                             Chief, Major Frauds Section
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