A federal grand jury brought a six-count indictment against 34 Cecilia Aquino, of Fresno, charging her with mail fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft for submitting unemployment insurance claims and applications for Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury and Disaster Loans using stolen identities.
According to court documents, from June through November 2020, Aquino submitted unemployment benefit claims in at least seven states and at least four loan applications that contained misrepresentations. She claimed that the named individuals last worked as self-employed dancers and owned interior design businesses, and that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they lost their jobs and business revenue, respectively.
The state workforce agencies that administer the unemployment insurance system, the SBA, and the United States suffered an actual loss of at least $220,000 and were subject to a potential loss of more than $350,000 because of Aquino’s fraud. Aquino used the money for gambling, rent, shopping, and other personal expenditures.
If convicted, Aquino faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the mail and wire fraud counts, and a mandatory two-year sentence consecutive to other counts and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the aggravated identity theft counts.
And in an unrelated case, 44 year old Deborah Shannell Hollimon, of West Memphis, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to committing mail fraud in connection with California state unemployment insurance benefits.
This case was well before the current pandemic, and demonstrates that EDD fraud has existed for many years.
According to court documents, from September 2012 through September 2015, Hollimon and others filed over 100 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims with the California EDD seeking approximately $882,991 using fictitious businesses.
Hollimon created fictitious employers with EDD and then submitted information to EDD reporting fake employees for the businesses. Almost all, of the individuals reported as employees of the companies were actually victims of identity theft. Hollimon subsequently filed unemployment claims in her own name and in the names of the fake employees in order to collect the benefits. Approximately $569,168 in fraudulent benefits was paid out by EDD.
Hollimon is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 19. Hollimon faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.