SAN DIEGO, California — Regina Brice, a former employee of the California Employment Development Department, was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison for filing fraudulent unemployment claims totaling $858,339. The scheme diverted funds intended for pandemic relief, according to court documents.
Brice, a 43-year-old from San Diego, California, had been with the EDD since 2010 and was responsible for processing COVID-related unemployment claims. Between July 2020 and May 2021, she used her position to manipulate and file fraudulent claims for co-conspirators, including California prison inmates, in exchange for bribes, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“This defendant turned her back on the oath of her office and those she was supposed to help during a once-in-a-century pandemic,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden. Quentin Heiden, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, added that Brice “violated the public trust afforded to her as an EDD employee to enrich herself and others.”…