OUT-OF-STATE INMATES AMONG UNEMPLOYMENT RECIPIENTS
California officials estimate scams netted $4 billion
In the latest revelation of potential criminal fraud involving California jobless benefits, an analysis has found that more than $42 million in claims went to outof-state prison and jail inmates, giving more clarity to what officials now estimate could be $4 billion in scammed coronavirus relief funds.
A large number of Florida inmates, including a man sentenced to 20 years for second-degree murder, are among the thousands of outof-state prisoners who have allegedly received California pandemic unemployment benefits, according to a December analysis commissioned by the state Employment Development Department and reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.
The analysis compared data on incarcerated individuals nationwide against nearly 10 million people on the state pandemic unemployment rolls, and found that the EDD approved more than 6,000 claims, totaling more than $42 million,
involving individuals who were probably incarcerated elsewhere when they were paid by California.
Altogether, the analysis found there were more 20,000 claims deemed at high or moderate risk of having been paid to an incarcerated person, either in California or another state. If all those claims were fraudulent, the $42 million estimate of payments to inmates would jump to $96 million.
The disclosures come as
state authorities are learning that potentially fraudulent claims of California aid could total about $4 billion — double previous estimates.
Bank of America officials have briefed state officials about the increased figure recently, according to sources familiar with the conversations and other government officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are 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 county jails in that state, according to a summary analysis of the data dated Dec. 18.
Along with the convicted murderer — identified in the report as Nakeva Thornton, 43, who allegedly received $10,800 in payments and was sentenced in 2012 — the report highlights another Florida prison inmate serving time for burglary and failure to comply with sex offender rules who allegedly received $9,000 and is scheduled for release in 2024.
The analysis identified inmates receiving California benefits in other states, including Nevada, Illinois and South Carolina. Prison officials in Nevada and Illinois did not immediately comment on the allegations, but South Carolina Department of Corrections spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said her department had “not been notified by California authorities or anyone that any of our inmates are involved in this.”
Officials with the district attorney’s offices in Clark County and Washoe County in Nevada said that any allegations of inmate fraud allegations would be handled by Nevada’s attorney general’s office.
The report caused another wave of outrage in the California Legislature and among county district attorneys, who will be tasked with investigating and prosecuting many of the cases.
“Absurd fraud policies have made California’s EDD a target for prisoners nationwide. What a shameful waste of taxpayer dollars,” said Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, a Laguna Beach Democrat and chairwoman of the Assembly
Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review.
She said fixing the agency needs to be the top priority for newly appointed EDD Director Rita Saenz.
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, who with other county DAs in November sounded the alarm on inmate fraud, said Tuesday that she remains concerned both about in-state inmate fraud and claims from outside the state but has seen progress from the state employment agency in recent weeks. She added she is “working aggressively and collaboratively” with the state and law enforcement to combat such crime and help EDD “prevent it on the front end.”
The analysis was conducted by Sacramentobased Pondera Solutions, a subsidiary of business information provider Thomson Reuters that specializes in government and health care fraud, waste and abuse. Thomson Reuters purchased the California company earlier this year.
The analysis used a database of jail and prison inmate rolls for more than 2,000 facilities across the country.