LOS ANGELES—Sixteen people have been charged in an alleged massive electronic benefit transfer fraud scheme in which funds that were intended for families in need were siphoned off, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Sept. 6.
Prosecutors say the case involves the theft of private account information of California EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) card holders, the creation of illegal, cloned cards with victims’ account information, and the withdrawal of large cash amounts from those accounts at ATMs. That left legitimate cardholders without funds in their accounts when they would later try to make purchases, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
