A Redlands resident is among 14 Inland Empire people indicted by a federal grand jury on fraud charges, including theft of government benefit funds and passport fraud, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman in L.A. announced Thursday July 11.
Editha Pagdilao, 66, of Redlands, is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on August 7, according to Justice spokesman Thom Mrozek.
"Eleven of the 14 indicted defendants are charged with theft of government property," Mrozek said in a statement. "These defendants allegedly took and spent government benefit payments to which they knew they were not entitled."
Some of the alleged crimes involve payments the government issued to the defendants' deceased family members, and others include payments made after defendants made false statements to the government, Mrozek said.
According to the Department of Justice, the 11 defendants charged with theft of government property in excess of $1,000 are Pagdilao and:
- Audrey Owens, 60, of Upland, who is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on July 24;
- Sarah Rose, 57, of San Bernardino, who is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on July 24;
- Michele King, 42, of San Bernardino, who is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on July 24;
- James Cramer, 78, of Banning, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued;
- Wilma Welsh, 82, of Perris, who is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on July 31;
- Zandria Rhone, 61, of Riverside, who is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on July 31;
- Thomas Fothergill, 73, of Perris, who is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on August 7;
- Martin Munoz Villa, 42, of Riverside, who is also charged with aggravated identity theft and who is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on August 7;
- Josie Lee Anderson, 64, of San Bernardino, who is also charged with submitting a false written statement to a government agency and for whom an arrest warrant has been issued;
- and Walton Monagan, 70, of Hemet, who is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on August 7.
Alleged false statements made by the defendants included identities, social security numbers, military service history, and employment or marital status, Mrozek said.
The other three defendants are charged with making false statements to the Department of State to obtain United States passports. These false statements related to, among other things, the defendants' identities, dates and places of birth, and social security numbers, Mrozek said.
Arrest warrants have been issued for the three charged with passport fraud. They are:
Those convicted of theft of government property in excess of $1,000 or passport fraud face up to 10 years in federal prison, Mrozek said. Those convicted of submitting a false written statement to a federal agency face up to five years in federal prison. Those convicted of aggravated identity theft face a statutory minimum, consecutive sentence of two years in federal prison.
All defendants who received summons for arraignments have been directed to appear in U.S. District Court in Riverside, Mrozek said.
The federal indictments announced July 11 resulted from an enforcement initiative by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General, the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General, the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, and the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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