San Diego, California – A former California Employment Development Department (EDD) worker has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for orchestrating a massive unemployment fraud scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regina Brice, 43, of San Diego, was handed a 66-month prison sentence on Friday after pleading guilty to mail fraud. Prosecutors say she used her position at the EDD to file more than $850,000 in fraudulent unemployment claims in exchange for bribes—stealing money intended to help those economically impacted by the pandemic.
Brice had been with the EDD since 2010, and as a program representative, she was responsible for processing pandemic-related unemployment claims. However, between July 2020 and May 2021, she exploited her employee access to manipulate claims for co-conspirators, including California prison inmates. She also advised them on how to withdraw funds undetected, bypassing fraud-checking systems used by banks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office…