In the latest revelation of possible criminal fraud related to unemployment benefits in California, an analysis found that more than $ 42 million in claims went to inmates and inmates, giving more clarity on what officials now estimate that $ 4 billion in can be fraud. coronavirus virus funds.
A large number of inmates in Florida, including a man sentenced to twenty years for second-degree murder, are among the thousands of out-of-state inmates who allegedly received unemployment benefits in California, according to an analysis by December commissioned by the State Employment. Development section and reviewed by The Times.
In the analysis, data on inmates were compared nationwide to nearly 10 million people on the unemployment pandemic of the state pandemic, and found that the EDD approves more than 6,000 claims, totaling more than $ 42 million, involving individuals who were probably locked up elsewhere they were paid by California. .
In total, according to the analysis, there are more than 20,000 claims that are considered at high or moderate risk of being paid to a prisoner, whether in California or in another state. If all of these claims were fraudulent, the estimated $ 42 million in payments to inmates would rise to $ 96 million.
The revelations come as state authorities learn that the possible fraudulent claims for California aid could amount to about $ 4 billion – double previous estimates.
According to Bank of America officials, government officials recently informed about the increased figure, according to sources familiar with the talks and other government officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
More than 2,000 of the high-risk claims identified in the EDD analysis are inmates of the Florida Department of Corrections or Prisons in the country, according to a summary analysis of the Dec. 18 data.
Along with the convicted murderer – who is identified in the report as Nakeva Thornton (43), who allegedly received $ 10,800 in payments and was sentenced in 2012 – the report highlights another inmate in Florida who is serving time for burglary and failure to comply with the rules of sex offenders who allegedly received $ 9,000 and are scheduled for release in 2024.
The analysis identified that inmates in California receive benefits in other states, including Nevada, Illinois and South Carolina. Prison officials in Nevada and Illinois did not immediately comment on the allegations, but Chrysti Shain, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Corrections, said her department “was not notified by the California authorities or by anyone that none of our prisoners are involved. ”
Officials at the district attorney’s offices in Clark County and Washoe County, Nevada, said any allegations of prisoner fraud allegations would be handled by the Nevada Attorney General’s office.
The report has caused another wave of outrage in the California legislature and among district attorneys, who have the task of investigating and prosecuting many of the cases.
‘Absurd fraud policies have made the California EDD a target for inmates nationwide. What a shameful waste of taxpayers’ money, ”said Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach), chairwoman of the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review.
She said the recovery of the agency should be the highest priority for newly appointed EDD director Rita Saenz.
Sacramento County Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert, who along with other provincial DAs sounded the alarm about prison fraud in November, said on Tuesday that she was still concerned about prison fraud in the state and demands from outside the state, but that she had seen progress from the state agency in recent weeks. . She added that she was “aggressive and cooperating” with the state and law enforcement to combat such crime and help EDD prevent it at the forefront. ‘
This week, Schubert’s office filed an 18-count charge against a detainee arrested with nine EDD debit cards issued in different names, along with a Glock-style pistol without serial number, $ 58,000 in cash and nearly £ 4 dagga. A subsequent investigation with EDD investigators found that $ 219,000 was allegedly fraudulently obtained by the man, Walter Lee Dawson.
“We need our state leaders to reconcile with California taxpayers on how fraud and theft of this magnitude could have happened,” Riverside Dist said. Atty. Mike Hestrin, when the content of the EDD report was presented. Fresno County Dist. Atty. Lisa Smittcamp added that it was “irresponsible” that the state agency did not have an “audit mechanism in place before payments were made.”
The analysis also identified that more than 1,660 inmates in California are at high risk of receiving benefits while incarcerated, including more than 700 people booked in the Orange County Jail. In one lawsuit in California, a inmate at Shasta County Jail, who has been charged with murder and incarcerated since 2014, received $ 167 weekly for 16 weeks from March, according to the report.
The analysis was done by Sacramento-based Pondera Solutions, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters, a business information provider specializing in fraud, waste and abuse by government and healthcare. Thomson Reuters bought the California company earlier this year.
The analysis used a database of prison and jail roles for more than 2,000 facilities across the country. However, the database does not contain all states, according to the report, data from Pennsylvania, Montana and North Dakota, among others, are missing. The report also lists possible fraudulent claims in only 33 of California’s 58 prisons. It is unclear whether the prison data of the provinces is included in all provinces.
The prison data is then linked to claims information. The high-risk matches included those where the incarceration could be reliably confirmed, the names fit and exactly match the personal data of the unemployment claimant.
The Pondera analysis was reviewed by The Times more than a month after EDD officials said they had paid $ 400 million that was improperly filed on about 21,000 unemployment benefit claims in the names of California inmates. Governor Gavin Newsom said at the time that he was “deeply concerned” about reports of benefits being paid to people behind bars.
Benefits paid in California include claims filed in the names of prisoners on death row.
EDD officials did not immediately respond to questions about the Pondera report, but they tried to stem the tide of fraud because Bank of America, which issues EDD debit cards with benefits, said last month that it had evidence of $ 2 billion worth of fraud. during a first review.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Saenz, who appointed Gavin Newsom on Dec. 30 to take over as EDD director after Sharon Hilliard announced her retirement.
At Saenz’s appointment, the governor said he was confident she would help the department pay claims early “and at the same time stop fraud in our systems and hold people who have committed fraud accountable.”
EDD officials said it was a challenge to separate legal claims from false claims.
“The pervasiveness of fraudsters using extensive, stolen personal identification information can lead to problems in sorting out legitimate claimants from those who may have used their information for a fraudulent claim, so we are taking further steps to verify these claims. “The agency wrote in a statement.
The EDD has taken the unusual step of announcing on Sunday that it will suspend payments for many approved claims – those considered ‘high risk’ until it can be confirmed as legal.
EDD spokeswoman Aubrey Henry declined to say how many high-risk claims were suspended and said notices would soon go out on how claims could thaw their claims. The agency has decided to take action now to prevent a newly approved federal additional fee of $ 300 from being paid for fraudulent claims.
The announcement of suspended claims has garnered more than 700 responses on the EDD’s Facebook page, many of people saying they have been stimulated in efforts to get benefits they say are right.
“So are good honest people without work punished for a system error?” wrote one man from Los Angeles. “Our tax money is going to be wasted with these clowns!”
Those notified that their claims have been suspended include Irene Flores of Los Angeles, who said in an interview that she was a Lyft driver before the pandemic.
Flores said she first applied for unemployment in March and had to submit documents twice to verify her identity, once during a process that delayed her payments by five months. On New Year’s Eve, she received a notice from EDD that her claim would be suspended again until her identity could be confirmed.
“This is disturbing because my account does not have to be filed for the third time when I submitted all the documents they asked for and verified it,” Flores said.
The cessation of unemployment benefits meant that she could not pay the January rent and harmed her ability to buy groceries for herself and her children.
“It’s very heavy,” Flores said.
Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) said the word of benefits for inmates outside the state is particularly difficult to take, while thousands of unemployed Californians are still without financial aid.
“All the time, they send money to out-of-state prisons,” Chiu said.