U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Superseding Indictment Adds Defendants to $25 Million, Prison-Based Unemployment Insurance Fraud Scheme (USAO ED-CA 02/11/2022) (2022-02-15)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California, dated February 11, 2022, announcing a superseding indictment charging a total of eight defendants with submitting over $25 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims to the California Employment Development Department in the identities of inmates, minor children and others. The original indictment charged Daryol Richmond and Telvin Breaux, inmates at Kern Valley State Prison and the California Correctional Institution, and Holly White; the superseding indictment adds Cecelia Allen, Fantasia Brown, Tonisha Brown, Fantesia Davis and Shanice White. According to court documents, the applications falsely stated that the claimants had worked as clothing merchants, handymen and in other jobs. The release states that the actual loss is over $5 million.

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

                                   United States Attorney’s Office
                                    Eastern District of California

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                               Contact: Lauren Horwood
 Friday, February 11, 2022                                               Public Affairs Officer
 EDCA.gov | @EDCAnews                                              Lauren.Horwood@usdoj.gov

  Superseding Indictment Adds Defendants to $25 Million, Prison-Based Unemployment
                              Insurance Fraud Scheme

FRESNO, Calif. — A total of eight defendants have been charged in a superseding indictment
for submitting over $25 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims in the identities of
inmates, minor children, and others to the California Employment Development Department
(EDD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The indictment was announced today by U.S. Attorney
Phillip A. Talbert following the arrest of all the defendants.
The original indictment charged Daryol Richmond, 30, an inmate at Kern Valley State Prison;
Telvin Breaux, 29, an inmate at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi; and
Holly White, 30, of Los Angeles, with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity
theft. The superseding indictment adds Cecelia Allen, 33, of Downey; Fantasia Brown, 33, of
Los Angeles; Tonisha Brown, 28, of Los Angeles; Fantesia Davis, 32, of Victorville; and
Shanice White, 28, of Hawthorne. They are also charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud
and aggravated identity theft. Richmond and Breaux are inmates at the Kern Valley State Prison
and California Correctional Institute, respectively. The remaining defendants reside in the
Southern California area.
According to court documents, the underlying applications for the claims falsely stated that the
inmates, minor children, and others previously worked as clothing merchants, handymen, and
other jobs, and recently became unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The
defendants created fictitious email accounts and used different physical addresses throughout
Southern California for the fraudulent claims. After the defendants received the debit cards for
the claims in the mail, they made cash withdrawals at different locations, on different days and
times, and in varying amounts all to avoid detection by government authorities.
The actual loss to the EDD and United States is over $5 million. The defendants spent the
money on vehicles, furniture, handbags, jewelry, and other items and services.
This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI, EDD, the U.S. Department of Labor
Office of Inspector General, and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR). Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.
If the defendants are convicted of the conspiracy to commit mail fraud, they each face a
maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. If convicted of
the aggravated identity theft, they each face a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence. Any
sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after considering any
applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account
several variables. The charges are only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent
until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
                                            ####


File and source

File

2022-02-15-Superseding-Indictment-Adds-Defendants-to-25-Million-Prison-Based-Unemployment-Insurance-Fraud-Sche.pdf

Size

263,723 bytes

SHA-256

5d201cdd5b80189f4332ae393958505d3bbd7694f83f18d695ce383ec68901e5

Our copy

2022-02-15-Superseding-Indictment-Adds-Defendants-to-25-Million-Prison-Based-Unemployment-Insurance-Fraud-Sche.pdf

Original

www.oig.dol.gov