The first order of business as an employee of the California Employment Development Department (EDD) is to take the oath of office. The oath, a public record mandated by the California Constitution, serves as a pledge to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of California. And that includes insuring to the best of their ability that no one defrauds the U.S. taxpayer! But not everyone can keep a promise. Especially a fraudster.
Regina Brice was employed by the California EDD since 2010. During the pandemic, she was responsible for processing COVID-related unemployment claims. But the pandemic unleashed an unprecedented flood of 29 million jobless claims! This led to a backlog of claims, with payment delayed for five million Californians and resulting in at least one million facing improper denials. Brice was busy! But not too busy to commit fraud.
Between July 2020 and May 2021, Brice exploited her employee access at EDD to manipulate and file fraudulent unemployment claims for her co-conspirators, who included California prison inmates, in exchange for thousands of dollars in bribes. Not only did she confirm the legitimacy of her co-conspirators’ applications and certify eligibility for benefits, but she also instructed her co-conspirators on how to circumvent the security features to process the fraudulent claims without detection. She provided tutorials to the prisoners on how to bypass EDD’s unemployment system’s fraud checking software. In doing so, she turned her back on the oath of her office and those she was supposed to help during a pandemic.
On March 29, 2025, Bric was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for unemployment fraud.
Shout out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “San Diego woman sentenced for $858,339 unemployment fraud scheme” published by My California News on March 29, 2025.
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Regina Brice, a former employee of the California Employment Development Department, was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison for filing fraudulent unemployment claims totaling $858,339. The scheme diverted funds intended for pandemic relief, according to court documents.
Brice, a 43-year-old from San Diego, California, had been with the EDD since 2010 and was responsible for processing COVID-related unemployment claims. Between July 2020 and May 2021, she used her position to manipulate and file fraudulent claims for co-conspirators, including California prison inmates, in exchange for bribes, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
