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Five people, including a California Highway Patrol Dispatcher, have been arrested for allegedly stealing $3.3 million in federal unemployment benefits.
The suspect was identified by the US Lawyer’s Office as follows:
Janet Clarice Gloriatheus of Lancaster Diane Clariceteus, 44, Lancaster (Janet’s mother) Diren Spears (Janet’s mother) Diren Spears, 24, Calson Erika Abson Robbins, 57, Compton, CHP Dispatcher Ronald Lee Robbins, 62, Compton (Erieka’s prison).
From April 2020 to July 2022, the group has been accused of collecting personal information such as names and Social Security numbers from unsuspecting victims to fraudulent claims of unemployment benefits during the Covid era.
The suspect allegedly filed a fake community unemployment assistance application claiming he lost his job due to the pandemic. Once the funds were received, they used the accounts they created for the scheme to withdraw funds from the ATM, prosecutors said.
Through this method, they submitted about 293 applications for unemployment benefits, raising about $3.3 million.
About 169 applications have been filed for children under the age of 18, according to court documents. Of these, 106 were aimed at children under the age of 10. At least 17 applications were aimed at people who were actually incarcerated prisoners.
Erica Robbins has been accused of using her position as a CHP dispatcher to access a law enforcement database containing the inmates’ social security numbers and dates of birth at the San Luis Obispo prison.
At the time, Erica’s husband, Ronald Robbins, was a prisoner in the same prison. During his prison time, Robbins is said to have collected Social Security numbers and dates of birth from other inmates. Other inmates, Janet Theus and Diane Theus, later retracted community-related cash benefits, officials said.
On March 6, prosecutors announced that all five suspects had been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Additionally, Janet was charged with four counts of bank fraud. Diane and Erica were each charged with two counts of bank fraud. Janet, Diane, Erica and Ronald were accused of one count of illegal use of unauthorized access devices.
Erica and Ronald were arrested Wednesday. Dylen Spears surrendered on the same day. On Thursday, Janet and Diane surrendered to authorities.
The trial date is scheduled for April 29th. Erica and Spears were released on a $10,000 bond. A detention hearing was scheduled for March 11 for Ronald, who maintains federal custody.
If convicted of all charges, they could be held in prison for up to 30 years per each bank fraud-related count. Janet, Diane, Erica and Ronald could be held in prison for up to 10 years for illegal use of unauthorized access devices.
Anyone with information about Covid-related scams can report it via the NCDF Web Complaint Form, either by calling the Department of Justice National Disaster Fraud Center Hotline at 866-720-5721 or by calling online.
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