Sex offender charged with receiving EDD fraud
A Sacramento teacher convicted of luring a minor for sex in West Sacramento has now been charged with receiving fraudulent unemployment checks.
The Yolo County District Attorney announced Monday that Taylor Lewis Gholar was receiving Unemployment Insurance Benefits while he was in custody at the Yolo County Jail.
Investigators were able to intercept phone calls from the jail between Gholar and his girlfriend, Sonia Chan, where they discussed filing unemployment claims.
The District Attorney stated that Chan submitted Gholar’s application for him and received his money. Altogether, the couple received $ 11,688. In order to be eligible for unemployment payments, people must be able and available to work, and must also be ready and willing to accept work immediately. Because Gholar was in jail, he did not fulfil those requirements.
Both Gholar and Chan have been charged with felonies related to grand theft, making a false and fraudulent insurance claim and conspiracy to commit fraud.
Gholar, a 29- year- old teacher, was sentenced to three years in state prison on Dec. 10 after being convicted of going to a meeting with a minor for the purpose of lewd or lascivious conduct and communicating with a minor for the purpose of lewd or lascivious conduct. Gholar will also be required to register as a sex offender upon release.
Gholar met the victim when she was in 2nd grade and was her after- school teacher for three years, according to a statement.
After that, Gholar had no contact with the victim, a West Sacramento resident, until she was 12 years old.
On Jan. 19, Gholar began communicating with her through Instagram direct message. The victim informed Gholar of her age immediately. The statement explained that over the course of 12 hours, he asked the victim if she wanted to have sex, requested provocative photos of her and sent her a pornographic photo of himself.
When Gholar became concerned that the victim’s mother was aware of the conversation, she informed her parents, who informed the police. The parents and police pretended they were the child and continued communicating with Gholar.
During the early morning of Jan. 20, West Sacramento police officers, posing as the child, arranged to meet Gholar in West Sacramento where he was arrested.
Gholar’s new charges come after California District Attorneys and investigators shed light on a massive number of inmates filling for unemployment insurance. Some estimate the cost of this fraud to be up to $ 5 billion.