Excerpted from ABC 7
By Eileen Frere
The D.A. outlined three separate unrelated plots, involving 10 people altogether that he said exploited loopholes in the state's unemployment system to steal nearly $500,000 that should have gone to taxpayers in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Instead this money went to six state prisoners, including two convicted murderers who claimed the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted their ability to work," said Spitzer.
"This is massive organized fraud," said California Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris. "The state needs to launch a massive and organized response."
On Tuesday at a state Assembly Budget Committee subcommittee hearing, Petrie-Norris, the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review chairwoman, planned to question the director of California's EDD and directors from Bank of America, which has been contracted since 2010 to electronically pay out unemployment benefits, regarding the failures that led to rampant fraud.