CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.
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November 25, 2020 (Sacramento) - California may have paid up to $1 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims filed on behalf of prison and jail inmates in what prosecutors are calling “the most significant fraud on taxpayer funds in California history.”
The state paid more than 35,000 claims under state prisoners’ names, with one inmate collecting nearly $49,000, a group of district attorneys and a federal prosecutor said at a Tuesday press conference. California also paid more than $421,000 to 133 Death Row inmates — including Scott Peterson, a San Quentin prisoner convicted of killing his wife and unborn child. Some of the claimants used pseudonyms like “Poopy Britches” or “John Doe,” and most targeted federal benefits distributed by the state.
- Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento County district attorney: “We are paying hundreds of millions of dollars in the name of serial killers, rapists and child molesters. We need to turn the spigot off.”
- Newsom: “I have directed the Office of Emergency Services to stand up a task force to coordinate state efforts and support investigations by local district attorneys.”
CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.
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