Fresno-area couple indicted in unemployment insurance fraud scheme

FRESNO, Calif. — A Fresno-area couple have been indicted on federal charges for allegedly collecting nearly $2 million in phony unemployment insurance claims, following a multiagency probe that included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). 

Raul Oropeza Lopez, 47, and Ana Maria Oropeza, 41, both of Delano, were arrested Tuesday. They are named in a 10-count indictment accusing them of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Both defendants have been released on bond. Their next court appearance is scheduled for May 4.

According to court documents, Raul Oropeza Lopez obtained Social Security numbers, names, and other personal identifying information of U.S. citizens and legal residents and then used the information to provide undocumented workers with false identities so they could work in the U.S. as farm laborers. Then, when the workers were laid off at the end of the growing season, Oropeza and his wife allegedly filed fraudulent unemployment insurance claims in the names of the assumed identities, relying on the work performed by the undocumented workers to claim unemployment insurance for the Oropezas’ benefit. Over a period of six years, Oropeza and his wife submitted more than 520 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims on behalf of over 70 individuals, collecting more than $1.8 million.

The case is the product of a joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; HSI; the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the United States Postal Inspection Service; and the California Employment Development Department, Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. McKeon is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, the Oropeza’s face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.