A Perris woman was sentenced Feb. 4 to 63 months in prison and $4.3 million in restitution for committing mail fraud through 197 fraudulent unemployment claims, in her second fraud case related to California’s Employment Development Department.
Gabriela Llerenas, also known as Maria Sandoval, used personal information she retained from work as a tax preparer to submit fraudulent claims using the state’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, the October United States of America’s allegation against her for mail fraud claimed.
The PUA expanded unemployment relief to self-employed workers, independent contractors, and employees with insufficient earnings, using funding from the $2 trillion federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, according to the document.
