3 charged in EDD fraud that used names of inmates
Federal prosecutors have charged three Inland Empire women in separate schemes in which they allegedly received COVID-related unemployment benefits using the names of California inmates. The women, who allegedly raked in a combined $1.2 million, are said to have falsely made claims under the names of inmates they said were unemployed due to the pandemic.
Sequoia Edwards, 35, of Moreno Valley; Mireya Ramos, 42, of Colton; and Paris Thomas, 33, of San Bernardino, are charged in separate criminal complaints. Each faces two counts: fraud in connection with gathering benefits and wire fraud, authorities said.
The women are part of a rash of pandemic-related unemployment fraud schemes that have occurred around the state in the past year, with at least $810 million in benefit claims improperly filed in the names of California prison inmates, authorities said. Investigators say overall losses from the fraud will top $11 billion.
The fraud schemes have resulted in prosecutions across the state, including one Orange County case involving, among others, two convicted murders and four other California state prisoners who were charged in January with filing fraudulent unemployment claims that netted nearly $500,000.
In one Inland Empire case, Edwards is accused of filing at least 27 fraudulent claims over two months last summer, including six using the information of California prison inmates she allegedly got from her incarcerated cousin, according to an affidavit in the case.
California’s Employment Development Department paid $455,000 on those claims, which were intended to help people who lost work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Incarcerated people were not eligible for the money.
A search at Edwards’ Moreno Valley home in February led the FBI to recover several debit cards issued by the EDD in various names and $45,000 in cash, according to the affidavit in support of her criminal complaint.
State lawmakers have severely criticized the EDD, saying many of the phony claims would have been preventable if the agency had taken precautions like those implemented in other states, including using sophisticated software to identify suspect applications, keeping Social Security numbers out of official mail and cross-checking benefit claims against personal data on state prison inmates. Cross-checking is routine in 35 other states.
Ramos allegedly filed 37 fraudulent claims, most of which were in the names of inmates and many of which falsely said they were “barbers who could not work due to the pandemic.” The affidavit in support of Ramos’ criminal complaint says she obtained the inmates’ information from her longtime boyfriend David Ortiz, who is serving a life sentence in Calipatria State Prison.
A notebook at Ramos’ home included details about all the inmates across California prisons who were named in claims she filed. Between last June and January, EDD issued at least $353,532 in unemployment benefits on claims allegedly created by Ramos. According to an affidavit, those claims all came from an IP address registered to Ramos.
Ramos appeared in court Thursday and was released on a $10,000 bond. Her arraignment hearing is scheduled for May 4.
Thomas was arrested in connection with 49 fraudulent applications, of which at least 15 were in the names of inmates, resulting in the EDD paying out more than $440,000, authorities said. Thomas is alleged to have described those inmates as barbers, carpet cleaners and painters who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
During a February search of Thomas’ home in San Bernardino, investigators seized EDD cards and a notebook filled with identifiable information for more than 40 people, according to an affidavit in the case.
In an FBI interview, Thomas acknowledged helping people to get benefits. “I did it, and it just was to have extra money,” she said.
A U.S. magistrate judge released Thomas on a $10,000 bond and ordered her to appear for an arraignment hearing on May 11.