California EDD fraud: Former Sacramento man sentenced, took over $1 million in COVID money

A former Sacramento man was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for using the stolen identities of more than 80 people to fraudulently receive more than $1.1 million in California benefits intended to help unemployed workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Terence Aubrey Larker, 37, now a Las Vegas resident, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to four years and 10 months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento. Larker was convicted of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.

From April 2020 through at least October 2020, Larker perpetrated a mail fraud and identity theft scheme that targeted the unemployment insurance benefit program that California administers through its Employment Development Department, federal prosecutors said in a Thursday news release.

Under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, EDD distributed money to qualifying residents who could not find employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Larker obtained identifying information of more than 80 people and filed fraudulent unemployment insurance benefit claims using their identities, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. EDD approved many of these applications and mailed benefits in the form of prepaid debit cards to addresses under Larker’s control, including at least 24 to his home address in Sacramento.

Prosecutors said Larker activated the debit cards and spent the money on himself, often appearing in ATM security camera video withdrawing large amounts of cash from these cards.

Larker’s scheme resulted in EDD and the federal government paying out over $1.1 million in fraudulent claims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.