FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Fresno woman had been sentenced to six years and three months behind bars for submitting over $300,000 in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims and Small Business Administration (SBA) loan applications during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Court documents show records that from June through November 2020, 32-year-old Cecilia Aquino of Fresno went on a crime spree where she submitted fraudulent unemployment insurance claims and loan applications in seven states by using stolen identities.
DOJ officials say the claims and applications contained various misrepresentations, including that the named individuals worked as strippers and owned interior design businesses, and that they lost money because of the pandemic.
According to prosecutors Aquino used the proceeds of her fraud for gambling, rent, shopping, and other personal expenses.
Aquino pleaded guilty in December 2022, DOJ authorities say.