Anaheim woman who fraudulently claimed over $500,000 in unemployment insurance sentenced to 4 years in prison

LOS ANGELES — An Anaheim woman was sentenced Tuesday, April 9, to four and a half years in federal prison for defrauding the state’s unemployment insurance program out of more than $500,000 by using stolen identities to submit bogus claims for so-called employees who supposedly worked at sham companies.

Rolanda Ashley, 49, pleaded guilty in October in Los Angeles federal court to one felony count of mail fraud. She was also ordered to pay $547,904 in restitution to her victims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to her plea agreement, from October 2010 to November 2013, Ashley participated in a scheme to defraud the Employment Development Department, the state agency that administers the federal unemployment insurance program in California.

Ashley and a co-conspirator registered fictitious companies with EDD, submitted false wage information for individuals who purportedly worked for the sham companies and then fraudulently applied for and obtained unemployment insurance benefits in these individuals’ names, prosecutors said.

At least 10 victims had their Social Security numbers and dates of birth used without their permission, authorities said. When registering the business addresses of fake companies with EDD, Ashley listed addresses that she controlled or to which she had access. As a result of Ashley’s fraudulent submissions, EDD directed a bank to mail debit cards to addresses that she listed for the fake claimants, according to prosecutors.

In total, Ashley submitted about 40 fraudulent claims seeking more than $550,000 in unemployment insurance benefits, officials said.