5 Plead Guilty in Major Welfare Fraud

Five defendants in the largest welfare fraud case in the history of San Diego County, including the ringleaders in the welfare department--pleaded guilty Monday to charges of misappropriation of public funds.

Victoria Aguirre and Angela Nieto, former employees of the Income Maintenance Bureau in the Department of Social Services, pleaded guilty to three counts of misappropriating public funds. In two of the counts, they admitted taking more than $25,000.

Aguirre, 39, of Chula Vista, and Nieto, 48, of El Cajon, each could get as much as eight years in prison when sentenced by Municipal Court Judge Nicholas Kasimatis on Aug. 27.

David Tovar, a 27-year-old San Diego resident and former county employee, Michael Hernandez, a 38-year-old Chula Vista resident, and Susan Louise Hernandez, a 40-year-old Chula Vista resident, also pleaded guilty to misappropriation of public funds.

Aguirre and Nieto set up phony accounts for friends and relatives, primarily by using nonexistent children, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Boles. The case, uncovered in February, 1990, “was basically computer fraud,” he said.

A number of other defendants, all of whom have pleaded guilty to various charges, are scheduled to be sentenced along with Aguirre and Nieto.

“Hopefully, this will send a message to other employees who steal that they will be prosecuted and they will go to jail,” Boles said.

Though investigators uncovered checks totaling $533,000, Boles said the total scheme was worth as much as $1 million.

Several others in the 20-defendant case worked in the welfare department, but had either quit or moved to other departments before the start of the fraud, which lasted from October, 1986, through early 1990.