Three Indicted and Arrested for Covid-Related Unemployment Insurance Fraud Scheme

 In a coordinated arrest by several law enforcement agencies, three defendants were arrested today for their roles in a Covid-fraud scheme targeting the California Employment Development Department (EDD), U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

Yolanda Butler, 49, was arrested in Oklahoma, and her son Legerrius Holt, 28, was arrested in Colorado. Both are formerly of Stockton. The third defendant, Quamaine Massey, 33, formerly of North Carolina, was arrested in Ohio. On Aug. 7, 2025, a federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging the defendants with mail fraud; Butler and Holt are additionally charged with aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, between April 2020 and June 2021, the defendants perpetrated a mail fraud and identity theft scheme that targeted the Unemployment Insurance benefit program that California administers through EDD.

Read the entire press release. U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California, September 9, 2025