California inmates may have bilked $400M from state's unemployment

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Authorities in California are investigating allegations that prisoners in the state may have committed unemployment benefits fraud to the tune of $400 million—with $5 million in fraudulent payments at one facility in San Diego alone.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the investigation is in its early stages, and Summer Stephan, the San Diego County district attorney, said a forensic investigation “will take time and resources, but is necessary to hold individuals responsible for gaming the system at a time when our economy and our communities are already hurting amid the ongoing pandemic."

The report said that some of the $400 million in benefits were sent to about 100 prisoners on death row.

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Prosecutors have been critical of the state’s Employment Development Department and claimed that the department is still sending payments to inmates despite knowing about the fraud, the Sacramento Bee reported.

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Crystal Page, a spokeswoman from the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, told the paper that the $400 million in payments were sent out to about 21,000 claims on behalf of prisoners.

The paper reported that inmates would allegedly provide siblings or wives on the outside with their Social Security numbers and the alleged accomplice would be able to bilk the system.

It is believed that they used cell phones that were sneaked into jails to communicate with their accomplices.