SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eight defendants have been indicted in a $25 million California Employment Development Department (EDD) fraud case based out of Southern California. Three suspects, two of whom are prison inmates, were previously indicted in the same case before prosecutors indicted five more people.
The United States Attorney's Office's Eastern District of California announced the new superseding indictment Friday charging 28-year-old Shanice White, 28-year-old Tonisha Brown, 29-year-old Telvin Breaux, 30-year-old Daryol Richmond, 30-year-old Holly White, 32-year-old Fantesia Davis, 33-year-old Cecelia Allen and 33-year-old Fantasia Brown with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Richmond is an inmate at Kern Valley State Prison and Breaux is also incarcerated at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The other defendants charged in the fraud case are from the greater Los Angeles area.
According to court documents, the defendants allegedly filed false unemployment claims stating that inmates, children and others had previously worked as clothing merchants, handymen or in other jobs before becoming unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says the defendants made false email accounts and used different physical addresses around Southern California to file the false claims. The defendants then allegedly made cash withdraws at different locations on different days after receiving debit cards in the mail for the fraudulent claims.
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The defendants allegedly used the money on vehicles, furniture, handbags, jewelry, and other goods and services.
The total loss to the EDD and to the U.S. government is valued at more than $5 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
All of the defendants have been arrested and face a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and an additional two-year consecutive sentence in jail, if convicted on all charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office says.
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