2 from Sacramento arrested on suspicion of EDD fraud totaling over $600,000, DA says
Police have arrested a Sacramento man and woman on suspicion of filing dozens of fraudulent California Employment Development Department claims totaling more than half a million dollars, as well as stealing identities from multiple victims across the country, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
The Sacramento Police Department’s gang division initially arrested Adrian Sykes in early February and found him to be in possession of a fully automatic handgun, the DA’s office said in a news release.
A search of his home uncovered additional firearms, some of which were loaded and were unregistered or did not have a serial number, along with body armor and six EDD debit cards, according to the news release. Sykes was later released on bail.
A joint investigation by police, the district attorney’s office and EDD into the six cards determined that Sykes, 24, and his girlfriend, 26-year-old Brittney Murchison, had allegedly filed a total of 35 fraudulent EDD claims “using the personally identifying information of victims from across the country,” according to the news release.
The fraudulent claims totaled more than $600,000, authorities said.
Sacramento police arrested Murchison on May 27 on suspicion of 16 counts of EDD fraud and one count of identity theft, according to the DA news release. Sykes was found and arrested Monday in Las Vegas. He is pending extradition to Sacramento, where prosecutors say he will face 35 counts of EDD fraud and one county of identity theft.
“Law enforcement across the state has witnessed staggering EDD fraud committed by criminals and their accomplices,” Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said in a prepared statement. “At the same time, we have witnessed an alarming increase of illegal firearms in our communities. This dangerous combination undoubtedly has fueled a dramatic increase in violent crime throughout the state.”
The same day those two arrests were announced, the Davis Police Department said it arrested two women, one from Davis and another from Fairfield, on a variety of charges after finding them with EDD debit cards belonging to 60 people from four different counties. Authorities did not reveal a dollar amount in that case.
