Like millions of others across California, more than 20 people living together in San Mateo filed for pandemic unemployment assistance recently, claiming the coronavirus had put them out of work. But according to the authorities, there was a different reason these people were unemployed: They were in the San Mateo Maguire Correctional Facility.

Over the weekend, 21 people in San Mateo, Calif., were charged with filing fraudulent pandemic unemployment assistance claims while in jail. The claims resulted in total payments of more than $250,000, according to the authorities.

The felony charges they face — various counts of conspiracy to commit fraud — each carry a maximum penalty of thee years in prison.

Those charged applied and began receiving assistance while they were in custody, meaning the claims violated California’s unemployment laws, said Stephen M. Wagstaffe, the San Mateo County district …continued .
[Source: New York Times]