A woman who is currently an inmate at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla pleaded guilty on Monday, April 12, to conspiring to defraud the unemployment benefits system of over $100,000, reports the Associated Press.
The state's current unemployment benefits are designed to assist people who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is just one of the many instances of theft that has resulted in over $810 million in pandemic unemployment fraud.
Alana Powers, 45, and Jason Vertz, 51, from Fresno, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Emails and recorded phone calls prove Powers and other women at Chowchilla women's facility provided Vertz with personal identifying information needed to complete the unemployment benefits applications, according to prosecutors.
The submitted applications states the inmates were previously working as maids, cleaners, welder, and other occupations. However, AP News reports none of them were eligible for the benefits because they were in prison.
Powers and Verts are each facing sentences of over 20 years in prison, according to AP News.
California's Employment Development Department has seen an unprecedented amount of fraud in pandemic unemployment benefits since the pandemic first hit the US in March 2020.
State lawmakers are pushing legislation that would require the EDD to crosscheck unemployment applications with inmate records to help decrease the amount of fraudulent claims.
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