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AV woman charged in elderly fraud scheme

by The AV Times Staff • June 1, 2015

LOS ANGELES – A 32-year-old Antelope Valley woman who allegedly used the promise of parts in bogus remakes of the movies “Cocoon” and “On Golden Pond” as bait in an identity theft scheme targeting senior citizens is due in court Friday on federal charges.

Dena Peterman, a.k.a. Dena Buttram, of Littlerock was named in an eight-count indictment that charges her with conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and six counts of mail fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Over the course of two years, Peterman and her co-conspirators allegedly stole Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information that was used to commit unemployment insurance fraud.

Court documents allege the defendant and others offered victims an opportunity to be cast in remakes of the 1985 film “Cocoon” and 1981’s “On Golden Pond” in order to obtain their personal information.

Once they had received the data, Peterman and co-conspirators created bogus companies supposedly related to the movie industry, submitted false wage information for the elderly victims and others whom they falsely claimed worked for the companies, and filed bogus unemployment insurance claims in their names, federal prosecutors allege.

The state Employment Development Department subsequently provided unemployment insurance benefits in the names of those individuals through debit cards that were mailed to addresses that Peterman or her co-conspirators controlled, according to the indictment.

As a result of the alleged scheme, investigators believe the EDD lost around $500,000.

Peterman was arrested May 18, and a magistrate judge ordered she be held without bond.

If convicted of all charges, Peterman would face up to 27 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

–

[Information via City News Service.]

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety, Littlerock

12 comments for "AV woman charged in elderly fraud scheme"

  1. Karen says

    June 2, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    Taking advantage of the elderly is a horrible crime. Most are just scraping by with minuscule incomes. I hope she goes to prison for a long time.

  2. William says

    June 2, 2015 at 12:35 pm

    and you, Gladys, are a clone of moll flanders who is a clone of ‘bird’.

    You 3 represent the conservatives very well. They’ve stalked the President like you 3 do. They’ve done nothing constructive in years and mostly have been DEstructive like you 3 are.

    They’ve shut down the government, lowered our credit rating just like rex has done with Lancaster’s. They vote against their own ideas and bills just because the President supported them.

    You, flanders and bird are just as flaky, projecting all your defects onto others and demonstrate exactly how hypocrisy looks. Thank you very much. You make my job much easier when you do that just like flanders made a fool of herself with that ‘context’ nonsense that she can’t back up.

    Keep doin’ what yer doin’.

    • Will I Am says

      June 2, 2015 at 1:26 pm

      Someone needs to get laid

  3. Gladys says

    June 1, 2015 at 8:40 pm

    So, why doesn’t anything happen to the scammers who take personal ID info from prisoners serving long term sentences to life, promising to file a tax return for them, then just depositing a couple hun in the prison account books? They keep thousands for themselves. Prisoners never signed any tax refunds or worked for that matter? Why don’t those scammers get prosecuted?
    While they are at it, how about the people who have licensed daycares, who have girls come by once a week to sign (goldenrod) time sheets, but don’t ever bring their kids to the house. The Daycare owner gets thousands of dollars from County, Fed programs for doing NOTHING. Never a kid and they give $$ back to the women who come by to sign the time sheets? Drop in the bucket. Do they ever go to jail? No, they instead, pay some of that money on a house that is financed through some low income, program for single minority mothers, when they are not single or low income. What a world, what a world. You know who you are and what you do to stay out of jail.

    • Tim Scott says

      June 2, 2015 at 12:02 pm

      You seem to have intimate knowledge of how a surprising number of fraud schemes work Gladys. How did that happen?

      • Gladys says

        June 2, 2015 at 12:41 pm

        I am alert. The world needs more lerts.

      • none ya says

        October 15, 2015 at 1:08 am

        Right I was thinking same think that’s more then being alert Gladys way more then just being alert you described every scheme down to the core lol

        lol

        • Gladys says

          October 15, 2015 at 1:41 pm

          Firm believer in, when you see something, say something.

  4. Saints says

    June 1, 2015 at 6:48 pm

    Anyone taking advantage of the elderly should be punished..

    • Johnny Trece says

      June 1, 2015 at 9:47 pm

      I second that.

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