Criminal charges have been filed against eight people — including one who worked for LA Metro and another who was a state Employment Development Department employee — accused of concealing income or asserts to allegedly fraudulently obtain a combined total of more than $177,000 in public benefits, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Thursday.
“Public benefits are a lifeline for struggling families, not free cash for fraudsters,” Hochman said in a statement announcing the charges. “While public assistance fraud is a small fraction of the total benefits distributed, even one person who takes advantage of the system is one too many.”
The defendants are accused of repeatedly committing perjury on their public benefits applications and recertifications for CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits that are intended to provide food, housing, employment, clothing, child care, medical and utility assistance for low-income families, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Those charged are:
— Nyeisha Nicole Taylor, 41, of Los Angeles, who allegedly obtained more than $16,700 in CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits between November 2021 and August 2022 even after being hired by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in January 2022 and earning about $1,850 per month;
— Nadya Daniels, 41, of Inglewood, who allegedly received just over $21,000 in CalFresh benefits between April 2023 and April 2025 by certifying multiple times that she either had no income or worked part-time at a retail store even though she was working for the state’s Employment Development Department with gross income ranging from about $4,500 to nearly $6,000 a month;
— Ogi Buyan, 50, of Santa Monica, who is accused of obtaining just over $47,000 in CalWORKs cash aid, CalFresh and Housing Assistance benefits between September 2019 and August 2023 while holding two investment accounts with a combined monthly balance ranging from $60,000 to over $1 million;
— Rana Soliman, 35, of San Dimas, who allegedly received more than $23,000 in CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits between October 2022 and August 2025 by certifying that she had no assets or income despite owning a home in Menifee that authorities say was valued at more than $611,000 and receiving rental income of $3,200 to $3,600 a month for that property;
— Jafar Abdi, 67, and Adrineh Abdi, 58, of Glendale, who are accused of obtaining more than $29,000 in CalFresh benefits between May 2021 and June 2023 by certifying that they earned no income from employment or rental property beyond Jafar Abdi’s temporary job at a body care store while Adrineh Abdi allegedly earned more than $165,000 during that period and the two allegedly collected $4,825 monthly for a house they owned in Glendale;
— Hasmik Hovhannisyan, 40, and Hayk Grigoryan, 45, of Los Angeles, who allegedly received more than $38,000 in CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits between March 2023 and February 2025. The spouses reported income Grigoryan received as an employee of a Los Angeles bakery, but repeatedly certified under penalty of perjury that they had no additional income despite owning the bakery that brought in more than $115,000 in income, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Each of the defendants are charged with a felony count of aid by misrepresentation over $950, along with multiple counts of perjury by false application for fraud, according to the District Attorney’s Office. All eight have pleaded not guilty, court records show.
The district attorney said the cases are among more than 340 filed this year alleging $4.8 million in government losses because of fraud and perjury allegedly committed by public benefit recipients.