A 43-year-old woman suspected of using the names and personal data of convicted murderers Scott Peterson and Cary Stayner to collect unemployment benefits was arrested in Contra Costa County over the weekend, authorities said Wednesday.
Brandy Iglesias allegedly collected more than $145,000 in fraudulent unemployment benefits between April 2020 and September 2021 in her own name as well Peterson and Stayner, who are both incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison.
Iglesias is charged with multiple counts of felony grand theft and forgery, according to a release from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Iglesias was employed by a private company that contracted with the prison, and through her employment she may have gained access to prisoners’ personal information, state officials said.
She was arrested on Saturday at an undisclosed location in Contra Costa County and arraigned Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court.
She is being held at the Sacramento County Jail on $20,000 bond.
“Don’t let the infamous names distract you from who this crime really hurt — the most vulnerable in our society,” Bonta said. “EDD theft hurts families in need, parents left without jobs during a pandemic, and Californians struggling to get by.”
EDD runs one of the nation’s largest public benefit systems, and more than 20 million people have filed over 60 million unemployment, disability insurance, and paid family leave claims over the past decade.
During the pandemic, California and other states were faced with unprecedented fraud attempts, officials said, and most of the schemes were linked to the emergency federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
