A person and lady from San Bernardino County have been arrested following a nine-count federal grand jury indictment alleging they obtained greater than $2.1 million in Covid-19 reduction funds.
Lisa Puente, 43, of Rialto, and Arthur Marquez, 53, have been arrested on Nov. 5 for allegedly submitting greater than 120 fraudulent purposes for unemployment insurance coverage advantages utilizing stolen identities from California state prisoners and out of state victims.
They claimed of their purposes that the victims used to stay and work in California when most victims didn’t stay in California.
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A person and lady from San Bernardino County have been arrested following a nine-count federal grand jury indictment alleging they obtained greater than $2.1 million in Covid-19 reduction funds. (iStock)
Prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice acknowledged in a press release that they ran the scheme from Feb. 2020 to Aug. 2023.
“The fraudulent applications falsely stated that they were individuals whose employment had been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered eligibility for [unemployment insurance] benefits under federal law,” in response to the discharge.
Puente and Marquez used debit playing cards generated by the claims to withdraw the advantages from ATMs in addition to purchases from native companies.
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Puente and Marquez used debit playing cards generated by the claims to withdraw the advantages from ATMs in addition to buying objects from native companies. (Getty Images)
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They are at present charged with six counts of mail fraud, one depend of use of unauthorized entry units and one depend every of aggravated identification theft.
“If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each mail fraud count, up to 10 years in federal prison for the unauthorized access device count, and a mandatory two-year consecutive prison sentence for the aggravated identity theft count,” officers stated.
They are each out on bond till their scheduled trial on Dec. 30.
