In a stark unveiling of fraud amidst the pandemic's darkest days, a former employee of the California Employment Development Department (EDD), Phyllis Hope Stitt, along with her ex-boyfriend Kenneth Earl Riley, entered guilty pleas for their roles in a scam exploiting COVID-19 unemployment benefits. According to a release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the pair worked together to filch upwards of $750,000 through the submission of fraudulent claims.
The scheme was extensive and calculated, with Stitt utilizing her position to harvest personal information from unsuspecting individuals. These details were then used to craft at least 29 phony unemployment insurance claims, misleading the EDD to suffer substantial financial losses. In a revealing turn, these losses were estimated at approximately $768,958, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California. Riley, for his part, was instrumental in retrieving the ill-gotten funds and managing addresses where debit cards and bank accounts associated with the fraudulent claims were sent. Indeed, the duo's operation featured cash withdrawals, bank transfers, and retail purchases made from the benefits they were not entitled to.
Alas, many victims ensnared in this deceit were not even eligible for the benefits claimed in their names – being either actively employed, unimpacted by the pandemic's economic upheaval, or past the claim of the mortal coil. When Stitt filed the fraudulent applications, she purported that these individuals had submitted their work history and identification documents, and falsely certified that they were unemployed due to the pandemic and were in the ongoing search for work.
Their day of reckoning comes as the Department of Justice continues its heightened vigilance against pandemic-related frauds, with Judge André Birotte Jr. setting sentencing for May 9, a day when the pair will confront the possible gravity of a 30-year federal prison sentence, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California.
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