South Bay Life Coach Pleads Guilty To Fraud

WESTCHESTER, CA — A South Bay man pleaded guilty Monday to accusations of fraudulently filing for unemployment 118 times to obtain COVID-19 benefits to fund his nonprofit, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Reginald Foster Jr., 38 of Westchester, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and bank fraud, and one count of unauthorized access devices.

In court, Foster admitted that from June 2020 to October 2020, he conspired with others to fraudulently obtain unemployment benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the DOJ said. Congress passed the CARES Act in March 2020 to provide economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Foster exploited the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provision of the CARES Act, which is designed to expand access to unemployment benefits to self-employed workers, independent contractors, and others who would not otherwise have been eligible because of the pandemic," the DOJ said in a statement.

According to the DOJ, Foster and his co-conspirators filed 118 fraudulent applications in the names of other people, who had not authorized him to do so. The applications included false information to ensure EDD would approve them and send debit cards to Fosters' mailing address.

Foster used the debit cards to make transfers to his Long Beach-based nonprofit, Champs Up! LLC, which aims to provide guidance to middle school students in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

"The greatest work a human can do is to work on 'self.' This means waking up intentionally to work on 'self' and the practice of being the best version of self every day," the Champs Up website reads. "The real money is the value of 'self.' It creates our realities, and generates money."

According to the DOJ, Foster also used the debit cards to make $1,000 withdrawals at ATMs before transferring them to his co-conspirators, who also made withdrawals. In total, the court alleged Foster and his co-conspirators withdrew almost $1.5 million.

EDD and Bank of America froze the remaining benefits when the scheme was uncovered, preventing further losses of up to $4 million.

Foster is scheduled to be sentenced on March 24, 2025, when he will face a statutory maximum of 30 years in federal prison for the conspiracy count and up to 10 years for the unauthorized access devices count.

Foster remains free on $50,000 bond.

Co-defendants Shelece Counts, 31 of Westlake, and Isaiah Herbert Lawrence, 31 of Houston, have both pleaded not guilty to criminal charges and are scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 21, 2025.