California Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing Unemployment Benefits Details Written by IVN
Sacramento, California - Andrea M. Gervais, 44, of Roseville, pleaded guilty Monday to theft of government money in a scheme involving 97 fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims in the names of persons other than her own, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, at least 10 of 97 fraudulent PUA claims were processed for payment, and nearly $200,000 in unemployment insurance and PUA benefits were paid out to Gervais’s Roseville address in the form of Bank of America debit cards. The potential value of all fraudulent 97 claims associated with the scheme exceeded $2 million.
December 17, 2020
Federal prosecutors charged three California women involved in two unemployment benefit fraud schemes that netted over $400,000. Two of the women were involved with inmate fraud while a third was a former Employment Development Department employee who impersonated a U.S. Senator.
On Thursday, a federal Grand Jury indicted Chowchilla Correctional Women’s Facility inmate Sholanda Thomas, 36, and parolee Christina Smith, 37, for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft charges for the submission of several fraudulent EDD unemployment insurance claims in Thomas’ and other Chowchilla inmates’ names.
Recorded jail calls and emails show that Thomas and others engaged in “bundling,” that is, they obtained the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers for inmates and relayed that information to Smith. From outside the prison, Smith submitted claims that falsely stated that the inmates had worked within the prescribed period as hai
Three charged in unemployment benefits fraud scheme
and last updated 2020-12-17 19:18:59-05
SACRAMENTO, Calif. â Three people were charged in connection to unemployment fraud schemes.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been fraudulently taken in two separate schemes that targeted California Employment Development Department unemployment insurance benefits that were intended for Californians hit hardest by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
The benefits involved billions of dollars in federal subsidies that have been significantly increased through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
On Thursday, the federal grand jury in Fresno returned an indictment involving a prison-based scheme out of the Central California Womenâs Facility in Chowchilla. Inmate Sholanda Thomas, 36, and parolee Christina Smith, 37, were indicted for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft charges for