A San Bernardino County man and woman have been arrested on nine federal grand jury indictments for allegedly obtaining more than $2.1 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
Rialto residents Lisa Puente, 43, and Arthur Marquez, 53, used stolen personal information from California prisoners and out-of-state victims to file 120 fraudulent applications for unemployment benefits. He was arrested on November 5th on more than one charge.
They argued in their application that the victims lived and worked in California, when most of the victims did not.
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A San Bernardino County man and woman have been arrested on nine federal grand jury indictments for allegedly obtaining more than $2.1 million in COVID-19 relief funds. (St. Petersburg)
U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors said in a statement. press release They said they ran this plan from February 2020 to August 2023.
“The fraudulent application falsely identified an individual whose employment has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the loss of eligibility.” [unemployment insurance] benefits under federal law,” according to the release.
Puente and Marquez used the debit cards generated by the charges to withdraw benefits from ATMs and make purchases from local businesses.
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Puente and Marquez used the debit cards generated by the charges to withdraw benefits from ATMs and purchase items from local businesses. (Getty Images)
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They are currently charged with six counts of mail fraud, one count of using an unauthorized access device, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
“If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison for each mail fraud charge, up to 10 years in federal prison for the unauthorized access device charge, and up to two consecutive years in prison for the aggravated crime. The number of cases of identity theft is high,'' officials said.
The two are being held on bail until their trial scheduled for December 30th.
