FRESNO - Cecilia Aquino, 34, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to submitting fraudulent unemployment insurance claims in at least seven states and submitting fraudulent applications for Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loans using stolen identities during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between June 2020 and November 2020, Aquino submitted unemployment insurance claims and SBA loan applications that contained several misrepresentations, including that the named individuals last worked as self-employed dancers, owned interior design businesses, and that they lost their jobs and business revenues because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state agencies that administer the unemployment insurance system, the SBA, and the United States suffered an actual loss of $220,000. They were subject to a potential loss of more than $300,000 because of Aquino’s fraud. Aquino used the money for gambling, rent, shopping, and other personal expenditures.