Industry News
Man convicted of defrauding California Employment Development Department
December 22, 2006
U.S. Attorneys in federal court prosecuted and successfully convicted Severo Pena of defrauding the California Employment Development Department out of $124,000 in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.
The case involved 15 counts of mail fraud and five counts of identity theft. Pena was found guilty by the jury, of having more than 295 separate UI checks sent to five different addresses he either owned or controlled. The checks were cashed at a check cashing business and several grocery stores. The identity theft counts stemmed from the defendant's use of other person's identities without their permission, to file the fraudulent claims for benefits.