Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Thursday that a former Saugus School District Board member and dean of East Los Angeles College has been charged with overbilling his employer for trips he took. Paul De La Cerda served as East Los Angeles College (ELAC) Dean until March 2021, at which time he was dismissed by the Los Angeles ...

In the most recent scam reported this holiday season and caught on record in a call sent to KHTS, robocallers are exploiting one of the largest retail giants in America: Amazon.  With shoppers kicking off their holiday shopping sprees, verified Amazon representatives are warning the public of a series of robocall scams reported across the country.  The robo-scam starts off ...

A Santa Clarita Valley man was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for scheming to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.8 million in COVID-19 relief guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Hassan Kanyike, 30, of Santa Clarita, was sentenced by United States District Judge Virginia A. ...

In a recent California assembly meeting, Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, made a presentation condemning the Employment Development Department (EDD) for their mismanagement of the criminal activity within their department, presumably wasting billions of taxpayer dollars.  Though initial appraisals estimated $11 billion lost, the amount of unemployment money claimed by fraudulent criminals in California alone is now thought to be at ...

A Santa Clarita businessman is under investigation by the Fraud and Cyber Crimes division of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.  Paul De La Cerda served as East Los Angeles College (ELAC) Dean until March 2021, at which time he was dismissed by the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) due to being under criminal investigation. As of Sunday, Dec. ...

Assemblymember Suzette Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, announced that Assembly Bill 319, (AB 319) has passed the Senate and is heading to the governor’s desk. If signed into law, AB 319, Valladares’s first bill to pass the Legislature unanimously would help California guard against foreign interference in state and local elections by prohibiting foreign campaign contributions, according to officials. “Recent elections have ...

A Santa Clarita woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to her role in a conspiracy to use other peoples’ personal information — without their consent — to unlawfully apply for and obtain over $250,000 in unemployment insurance benefits from the California Employment Development Department (EDD). Around May of 2020, Brittany Danielle Griesel, 38, from Santa Clarita and her co-conspirators submitted fraudulent unemployment ...

On Monday, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s office released a warning to immigrants, including those living in Santa Clarita, regarding fraud and scams.  According to Gascón, those seeking immigration assistance need to be cautious of malicious advisers promising work permits, citizenship and release from immigration detention.  https://twitter.com/LADAOffice/status/1424774416253083648 Immigration consultants, sometimes referred to as “notarios”, are not licensed to ...

Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, has co-sponsored a bipartisan act to prevent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) fraud and recover an estimated $31 billion in wrongly distributed funds. The bill cosponsored by Garcia, called the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Fraud Protection Act or House Resolution 4190, was introduced to the House of Representatives on Friday. “In Congress, one of my priorities is ...

Whether we like it or not, money is an essential part of living in today’s society. Have you ever wondered why our parents taught us to save for a rainy day? As we age, we start to realize how important money is. For some, money keeps on coming. But for many of us, we live from paycheck to paycheck. No ...