Sacramento woman pleads guilty to stealing identities and inventing fake jobs in EDD fraud
A Sacramento woman pleaded guilty on Thursday to aggravated identity theft and mail fraud in connection with a scheme prosecutors say stole $2.6 million in COVID-era benefits from the state’s Employment Development Department.
Tabitha Leigh Markle, 53, admitted in an agreement filed in federal court in Sacramento that she and accomplices stole the identities of several people and collected unemployment benefits using their names, social security numbers and other identifying information to collect the benefits.
The scheme was one of many that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, when enhanced benefits meant to protect workers tempted fraudsters to steal $20 billion in fake benefits from the system. By February 2024, the state had clawed back about $6 billion of that, EDD’s website shows.
Markle, the plea agreement said, invented fake self-employment profiles for people whose identities she or accomplices stole, including many who were incarcerated. Among the fake jobs were manicurists, music mixers, construction painters, barbers and tree-trimmers, the plea agreement said.
She filed more than 150 claims, and called phone numbers associated with California EDD more than 1,000 times, the plea agreement said. Markle called Bank of America, which at the time issued debit cards to EDD beneficiaries, nearly 200 times, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The scheme came to light after an Oakland man attempted to file a legitimate claim for unemployment in 2020 and was denied. Markle had used his name, date of birth and California ID number to file a false claim, which her accomplices milked for thousands of dollars between June and July of that year.
In January 2021, federal agents searched Markle’s home and found $7,320 in cash hidden in a laundry basket, the agreement said. That money will be forfeited in the case, and Markle has also agreed to pay back the $2.6 million in the form of restitution.
Although prosecutors have said they would not seek the maximum sentence, Markle faces up to 20 years in prison plus two years for the aggravated element of the identity theft. She could also be fined $250,000, but the agreement indicates prosecutors would not seek a fine in light of the large amount of money she will be required to pay back for restitution.
Markle is scheduled to be sentenced May 13 in federal court in Sacramento.
