E. Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California
A former employee of the California Employment Development Department (EDD) and her ex-boyfriend have been sentenced to federal prison for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 jobless benefits. Phyllis Hope Stitt, 61, from Carson, received a 20-month sentence and was ordered by United States District Judge André Birotte Jr. to pay $768,958 in restitution. Her former partner, Kenneth Earl Riley, 64, from South Los Angeles, was also sentenced to 20 months and must pay $611,458 in restitution.
Stitt had worked as an employment program representative at EDD during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between March 2020 and September 2021, she used her position to access personal information of victims to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims without their consent. These applications falsely claimed that the victims were unemployed due to the pandemic.
Riley participated by using addresses linked to him for receiving debit cards and accounts created through these fraudulent claims. He then made cash withdrawals and purchases with these funds.
The Attorney General's COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force was established on May 17, 2021, to combat pandemic-related fraud. This task force works alongside various agencies to prevent such frauds by enhancing investigative efforts and sharing insights from previous enforcement actions.
On September 15, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central and Eastern Districts of California were chosen to lead one of three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. These teams focus on large-scale pandemic relief fraud involving criminal organizations and transnational actors.
The investigation into this case was conducted by the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and the California Employment Development Department Investigation Division. Assistant United States Attorney Steven M. Arkow prosecuted the case.
Anyone with information about attempted COVID-19 fraud can report it via the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline or its web complaint form.
