Sophisticated crime rings involving California prison and jail inmates may have stolen upwards of $1 billion in pandemic unemployment aid, four district attorneys and a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.
Some 35,000 unemployment claims were filed in the name of California inmates between March and August, including that of convicted murderer Scott Peterson, and at least 20,000 had been paid out, said Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, reports Politico.
Schubert called the scale of the scheme "honestly staggering" and that it could amount to "the biggest fraud of taxpayer dollars in California history." She and her law enforcement colleagues called on state officials — including Gov. Gavin Newsom — to ensure that the identities of claimants are routinely cross-checked against those who are incarcerated and halt those payments.
Full monty at Politico: Link