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A Victorville woman was arrested as part of a seven-count indictment before a federal grand jury, alleging she fraudulently received more than $500,000 in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits with the names of inmates in the California state’s criminal system, according to the U. S. USA Decomposition of Justice.
Cynthia Ann Hernandez, 32, also known as “Cynthia Roberts,” of Victorville, was arrested Wednesday and scheduled to appear Thursday in U. S. District Court in Riverside.
Hernandez is charged with 4 counts of mail fraud, one count of fraud on devices over $1,000 and two counts of annoying identity theft, the Justice Department said.
According to the indictment sent On September 9, from June 2020 to August 2020, Hernandez filed fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance benefits with the California Department of Employment Development on behalf of other people incarcerated in the California State Prison System.
The EDD administers California’s unemployment insurance benefit program.
Hernandez allegedly falsely stated in the unemployment insurance claims that the named claimants were other individuals whose jobs had been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and were eligible for pandemic unemployment assistance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES).
Congress passed the CARES Act in March 2020, in part for others whose jobs and finances have been impacted by the pandemic.
The claims also incorrectly stated that the named claimants were eligible for unemployment insurance and that they resided and worked in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
The EDD then legalized Bank of America to factor the debit cards on behalf of the plaintiffs and sent them to Hernandez’s mailing address, according to the indictment.
Once Hernandez earned the debit cards, he used them to withdraw money from ATMs and banking centers.
In total, Hernandez allegedly filed at least 29 fraudulent claims with the EDD, resulting in losses to the EDD and the U. S. Treasury. UU. de approximately $515,138.
An indictment alleges that a defendant has committed a crime. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a moderate doubt.
This case study by:
The United States Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector General.
California Department of Employment Development – Division of Investigations.
National security investigations.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
U. S. Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General.
The United States Postal Inspection Service.
U. S. Customs and Border Protection- Special response team.
Assistant U. S. Attorney Solomon Kim of the Export Crimes and Terrorism Section is investigating the case.
Anyone who has information about allegations of attempted FRAUD related to COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Disaster Fraud Center Hotline at 866-720-5721 or the NCDF’s online complaint form at: justice. gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz can be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress. com. Follow him on Twitter@DP_ReneDeLaCruz
This article gave the impression in Victorville Daily Press: The federal government claims that a Victorville woman fraudulently obtained money as part of COVID relief