SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A group of district attorneys announced on November 24 that inmates across California defrauded taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a joint letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the nine district attorneys wrote the problem could "grow exponentially."
Jail and prison inmates fraudulently collected unemployment benefits that appear to have cost California taxpayers at least $400 million.
The letter also asks for legislation that would allow future cross-matching of data between correctional facilities and the Employment Development Department (EDD).
"We urge you to remedy this situation by using your emergency and executive powers to stop the exponential growth of this fraud," the letter reads.
Read the full letter at the bottom of this article.
Death row inmates and many others serving life sentences are among those who received fraudulent unemployment benefits. Scott Peterson, who is convicted of killing his wife and unborn son, is also on the list of those accused of scamming the EDD.
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert is one of the nine district attorneys who signed the joint letter to Newsom.
“The murderers, and rapists, and human traffickers should not be getting this money,” Schubert said. “It needs to stop.”
Newsom defended his administration's response during a Thursday news conference, saying the state performed a two-week reset to update the EDD's system and address the claim backlog. Newsom claimed that fraud was able to happen because of a "presumption of eligibility."
Newsom said the state is performing a balancing act trying to figure out who is eligible and not for unemployment benefits.
