AHE BB

The state has shut down all new unemployment insurance claims as of Saturday night due to unemployment insurance fraud

CBSLA’s David Goldstein has been exposing unemployment fraud, including claims going out of state and even out of the country without any identification provided which is required.

A man who CBSLA is not identifying received these letters from EDD telling him he’s been accepted for pandemic unemployment insurance – even though he never applied and has been on disability for years.

Now the state has stopped taking new claims while revamping the system.

The state plans on going back online with claims starting Oct. 5 using an online tool to automatically verify identities of applicants.

Beverly Hills Police have found 87 people who are allegedly connected to EDD fraud and identity theft.

Detectives said that they recovered 181 fraudulent EDD cards with a value of over $3.6 million.

“Shoes, clothing, purses. Anything of high dollar value they were spending on EDD cards,” said Beverly Hills Police Department Lt. Max Subin. “Eighty percent of the arrestees were from out of state, and they were renting Airbnb’s and renting high end cars.”

Investigators allege that the suspects were able to go to the EDD website and apply for unemployment under someone else’s name.

“They’re using people who are deceased, in jail, at nursing homes… getting someone’s personal information and entering that into the computer which would then send a card out to their address,” Subin said.

However, since it is a nonviolent offense, there is no bail due to coronavirus, so they are released.