The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has charged 13 county employees from seven different agencies with felony grand theft for allegedly stealing a combined $437,383 in unemployment benefits between 2020 and 2023.
Each defendant faces up to three years in state prison if convicted.
“As government employees, we have an obligation to uphold the public’s trust,” said District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman. “When a civil servant steals from the government, that trust is broken. The scale of fraud in these cases is shocking… Today, we are putting all government employees on notice: If you steal from taxpayers, you will be prosecuted.”
Fraudulent Claims During the Pandemic
While continuing to collect County paychecks, the defendants allegedly filed false unemployment insurance claims with the California Employment Development Department (EDD), falsely certifying under penalty of perjury that they earned less than $600 per week. In reality, investigators say the employees earned more than that amount, making them ineligible for unemployment benefits…