3 Ex-Workers Accused of Fraud at Air Force Base : Crime: Authorities say the trio created 13 fictitious restaurant employees and kept their paychecks.

Three former workers at a firm that ran a restaurant at Edwards Air Force Base and another military installation have been accused of creating fictitious employees and taking the wages for themselves.

Willie Edward Jones, 50, Edward E. Brown, 51, and Amelia Cunanan Johnson, 40, were arrested on charges of mail fraud, conspiracy and making false claims against the federal government, the Los Angeles office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.

The three worked for Oakland-based Kass Management Services Inc., which ran the Joshua Tree Inn dining hall at Edwards AFB and dining halls at the Defense Language Institute.

Payroll checks that Johnson had prepared for the nonexistent employees were deposited into the personal checking accounts of Jones, Brown and Johnson, according to the indictment.

Besides creating 13 ghost employees at the two locations between Jan. 1, 1989, and Aug. 31, 1991, Jones and Johnson are also accused of submitting false claims for meal expenses at the Joshua Tree Inn.

Jones, according to the indictment, submitted falsified register tapes and had employees “create false supporting documents to conceal the scheme.”

Jones also sought government reimbursement for $10,000 in labor costs for maintenance of equipment at the restaurant that was never performed.

Jones, a former resident of Lancaster now living in Hawaii, was arrested Jan. 7 and released Jan. 28 on a $50,000 bond. Seaside resident Brown was arrested Jan. 14 and released on a $25,000 bond while Johnson, a former Rosamond resident, was arrested Jan. 25 in San Francisco and released on a $75,000 bond. A trial date has not yet been set.

The case was investigated by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Edwards Air Force Base, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Oakland, the Army Criminal Investigative Division in San Francisco, and the FBI.