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Nine men, all serving the last of their prison terms in a halfway house, were charged Thursday with defrauding the state unemployment fund of $160,000 in benefits, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office announced.
The arrests and charges are part of a larger investigation into prison inmates across the state who are suspected of defrauding the program of as much as $2 billion. The scam was uncovered in December, and locally District Attorney Summer Stephan has said that inmates at both the local jails and the Richard J. Donovan state prison in Otay Mesa ripped off the state of at least $5 million.
It’s a sad fact that predators go to work during times of crisis and such was the case when, according to the county district attorney, nine local inmates.
Updated on January 14, 2021 at 4:07 pm
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It s a sad fact that predators go to work during times of crisis and such was the case when, according to the county district attorney, nine local inmates made fraudulent unemployment claims, to the tune of $166,000.
It s not the first time this scam has been revealed during the pandemic, of course: In November, a California prosecutor said someone filed an unemployment claim in the name of convicted murderer Scott Peterson, a San Diego native who was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing his pregnant wife in a case that attracted national attention. His murder conviction is currently under legal review to see if he should receive a new trial.
It’s a sad fact that predators go to work during times of crisis and such was the case when, according to the county district attorney, nine local inmates.
9 San Diego prison inmates charged in California unemployment benefits fraud scheme
Copyright Associated Press
and last updated 2021-01-14 14:24:32-05
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Nine men in San Diego County are facing felony charges stemming from a statewide unemployment fraud scandal among California prison and jail inmates, the District Attorney s Office announced Thursday.
The defendants, who allegedly committed the fraud between June and September of last year, were assigned to the Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP) in San Diego that allows qualified state prison inmates to serve the final months of their sentences in a halfway house setting.
The San Diego County DA s office alleges the inmates lied on application forms to the Employment Development Department and violated state prison rules regarding applying for public aid, fraudulently collecting a total of $166,132 in EDD funds.