[SCAM Channel]
Attorneys described it as “the most significant fraud on taxpayer funds in California history.” ...
From The Los Angeles Times:
The potential fraud came to light after district attorneys in Los Angeles, Lassen and San Mateo counties uncovered questionable claims coming from local jails and prisons, in part from monitoring recorded phone conversations of inmates while investigating unrelated crimes, said multiple sources familiar with the investigations. Investigators also noticed large money orders being sent to inmates...
Death row inmates got $400,000 and over $140 million went out to over 35 prisons. Kern County has five prisons and received $16 million.
Some claims used John Doe, John Adams, or “poopy britches” as names on the claims.
Officials did not disclose how much is attached to Peterson’s name. He is one of the 133 death row inmates associated with the fraud. California has 700 death row inmates...
Prosecutors demanded Gov. Gavin Newsom do something since this fraud could have been prevented:
The prosecutors contend that the fraud is preventable with systems such as those used by other states that check inmate data against unemployment claims. They asked Newsom to step in to “turn off the spigot” of payments to incarcerated people, contending that EDD’s response to their investigations has been “slow to nonexistent,” according to Sacramento County Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert...
