San Bernardino County couple arrested in alleged COVID-19 fraud scheme

A San Bernardino County couple has been arrested on a nine-count federal grand jury indictment alleging they fraudulently received more than $2.1 million in COVID-19 relief, according to the United States Department of Justice.

Lisa Puente, 43, of Rialto, and Arthur Marquez, 53, of San Bernardino, allegedly obtained the funds by submitting more than 120 fraudulent unemployment claims using stolen identities, including those of California state inmates, prosecutors said.

Puente and Marquez were arraigned Nov. 5 in U.S. District Court in Riverside.

Accusation

The defendants are charged with six counts of mail fraud and one count of using unauthorized access devices. Puente and Marquez are also charged with aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said.

Puente and Marquez have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and are scheduled for trial on December 30.

A federal magistrate ordered Puente released on $20,000 bail and Marquez on $10,000 bail.

According to the indictment, returned Oct. 9 and unsealed in November, between February 2020 and August 2023, Puente and Marquez allegedly submitted fraudulent applications to the California Department of Employment Development for unemployment benefits in other people’s names.

The Department of Employment Development administers California’s unemployment assistance program.

Prisoners

Others included people who were ineligible for unemployment insurance because they were in California state prisons and people whose personal information was used without their permission, Justice officials said.

The applications falsely stated that they were individuals whose employment was adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in eligibility for unemployment benefits under federal law.

The applications also falsely stated that the applicants lived and worked in California. Most of the identity theft victims in the scheme did not live in California, Justice officials said.

The apps also allegedly used fake mailing addresses and false information about previous annual income. The named applicants were unemployed self-employed individuals whose employment was adversely affected by COVID-19, officials said.

As a result of bogus unemployment insurance claims allegedly filed by Puente and Marquez, the Department of Employment Development authorized Bank of America to issue debit cards in the names of dozens of victims and suspect claimants.

124 likely fraudulent programs

After receiving the debit cards, the defendants withdrew the unemployment benefits loaded onto the debit cards, withdrawing cash from ATMs and bank branches, and using the debit cards to purchase merchandise sold at the businesses.

In total, Puente and Marquez allegedly caused at least 124 fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits, resulting in approximately $2,136,768 in losses to the Department of Employment Development and the United States Treasury.

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Maximum penalties are possible

The indictment contains an allegation that the defendant has committed a crime. Each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, justice officials said.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in federal prison on each count of mail fraud, up to 10 years in federal prison on the unauthorized access device count and a mandatory two-year sentence to run consecutively for disclosure of identity under aggravating circumstances. the number of thefts, justices explained.

The following are involved in the investigation of the case:

• Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Labor

• California Department of Employment Development Investigations Division

• Homeland Security Investigations

• Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Homeland Security

• Special Services Division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

• US Secret Service.

• Office of the Inspector General of the US Social Security Administration

• US Postal Inspection Service

Anyone with information about an alleged attempted fraud related to COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Disaster Fraud Center at 866-720-5721 or using the web NCDF complaint forms at justice.gov.

This article originally appeared on the Victorville Daily Press: A San Bernardino County couple has been arrested in an alleged COVID fraud scheme