LOS ANGELES, CA – Eight people, including an employee of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and an employee of the California Employment Development Department, have been charged in six felony cases with allegedly fraudulently obtaining more than $177,000 in CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced the charges at a news conference Thursday, Nov. 12, and the office detailed them in a news release. The defendants are accused of repeatedly committing perjury on their public benefits applications and recertifications and fraudulently obtaining a combined $177,233.77 in benefits.
CalWORKs and CalFresh are programs designed to help low-income families pay for living expenses such as food, housing and utilities.
Each defendant is charged with one felony count of aid by misrepresentation over $950, plus between two and seven felony counts of perjury. Deputy District Attorney Ursula Aguiar of the Public Assistance Fraud Division is prosecuting the six cases, and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, known as DPSS, investigated.
Eight defendants named in six cases
The defendants are Ogi Buyan of Santa Monica, Rana Soliman of San Dimas, Jafar Abdi and Adrineh Abdi of Glendale, Hasmik Hovhannisyan and Hayk Grigoryan of Los Angeles, Nadya Daniels of Inglewood and Nyeisha Nicole Taylor of Los Angeles.
The District Attorney’s Office attributed the following amounts to the cases: $47,059.77 for Buyan, $23,255 for Soliman and $29,579 in CalFresh benefits for the Abdis. Hovhannisyan and Grigoryan are accused of obtaining $38,630, Daniels $21,076 and Taylor $17,634.
Alleged concealed assets and income
Prosecutors allege that Buyan had investment accounts with monthly balances ranging from $60,000 to more than $1 million. Hochman said Buyan nonetheless stated under penalty of perjury that she had no money in the bank.
Soliman is accused of owning a home valued at $611,100 that she rented out for $3,200 to $3,600 a month. The Abdis are accused of owning a home valued at $979,000 that was rented for $4,825 a month.
In the case against Hovhannisyan and Grigoryan, prosecutors allege a bakery earned $115,055 in corporate income from 2022 to 2024.
Government employment alleged in two cases
Daniels allegedly worked for the California Employment Development Department, earning between $4,500 and $5,980 a month. Prosecutors say that income was part of the case over the CalFresh benefits she received.
Taylor allegedly worked for Los Angeles Metro at about $1,850 a month, starting in January 2022. She is accused of fraudulently obtaining $17,634 in benefits.
Hochman: benefits are “a lifeline”
“Public benefits are a lifeline for struggling families, not free cash for fraudsters,” Hochman said in the release.
At the news conference, Hochman said the defendants were lying, cheating and stealing to get public assistance money. He also stressed that the overwhelming majority of recipients obtain their benefits legitimately.
340 cases filed this year
Hochman said his office “has filed over 340 cases this year alleging a staggering $4.8 million in government losses because of fraud and perjury committed by public benefits recipients.”
The release also references other public benefits cases, including an earlier case announced Oct. 28, 2025, in which prosecutors charged a man with 22 counts each of identity theft and grand theft over about $146,474 in Los Angeles County public assistance benefits allegedly obtained with false identities. That case is one of the stolen-identity cases listed in the Nov. 12 release.
EBT skimming warning for recipients
The District Attorney’s Office also warned about thieves who target legitimate recipients through skimming of Electronic Benefits Transfer cards. Hochman said fraudsters install skimmers at ATMs and retail point-of-sale terminals to steal PINs and empty accounts before recipients can buy basic necessities.
“To the fraudsters, beware: We’re going to come after you,” Hochman said at the news conference. The release also lists two EBT skimming convictions.
The office’s protection tips include checking your balance after each purchase, changing your PIN the day before monthly benefits arrive and covering your hand when entering it. It also recommends using tap-to-pay or the chip rather than the magnetic strip, and using the California ebtEDGE app to freeze a card or block transactions.
Reporting suspected benefits fraud
DPSS’s Welfare Fraud Prevention and Investigations section is responsible for preventing and investigating welfare fraud before and after benefits are issued. The page gives a Central Fraud Reporting Line, 1-800-349-9970, for reporting suspected welfare fraud.
The District Attorney’s release also lists a California Department of Social Services tip line at 800-344-8477.
Preliminary hearings set from Nov. 20 to Dec. 11
Daniels and Taylor are scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 20 in Department 42 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles. Hovhannisyan’s preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 4 in Department 42.
The remaining defendants are scheduled for Dec. 11 in Department 41. A criminal charge is not a conviction, and the allegations remain subject to the criminal court process.
