The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has charged 13 Los Angeles County employees from seven different agencies with felony grand theft for stealing a combined $437,383 in state unemployment benefits between 2020 and 2023.
“As government employees, we have an obligation to uphold the public’s trust,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “When a civil servant steals from the government, that trust is broken. The scale of fraud in these cases is shocking, spanning seven different County agencies, including employees whose very job was to help the public determine whether they were eligible for public benefits. Most egregiously, these individuals allegedly claimed to be unemployed during the COVID pandemic when millions of Californians were legitimately in need of unemployment benefits. I thank Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller Oscar Valdez for his partnership and commitment to holding government employees accountable. Today, we are putting all government employees on notice: If you steal from taxpayers, you will be prosecuted.”Read more...
