File a false disability retirement claim and you had better watch your back.  Quite literally.  Our California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) members who are investigators with CalPERS not only have badges, they have  surveillance cameras.  People may lie, but video rarely does and our investigators won their case in court.

A Sacramento jury convicted Lisa Trevino-Angelo, 41, a former part-time personnel specialist at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for fraud and lying to  investigators in order to receive state disability retirement.

“These investigators are sworn peace officers who work full time to expose those who not only break the law, but give state workers and those with a  CalPERS retirement  a bad name,” said CSLEA President Alan Barcelona.

Trevino-Angelo submitted for state disability retirement, a tax free benefit,  back in 2008.  She claimed, “It is impossible to sit comfortably, write, key, use my hands, lift, squat, bend, stand, reach, walk, kneel, complete tasks, concentrate or hold a mouse, hold a pen, or hold a phone in the crook of my neck or hand for even a small period of time without pain.” 

Our investigators submitted more than four hours of videotape in which Trevino-Angelo was seen bowling, shopping, cheering at a sporting event and lifting a toddler.  She was arrested in 2009 and convicted October 31st, 2012.  A judge is expected to sentence Trevino-Angelo on January 4.  She faces up to two years in jail.

“Our CalPERS investigators are members of the California Association of Fraud Investigators (CAFI), an affiliate of the CSLEA organization,” said CAFI President Paul San Gregorio.  “Our investigators work hard in preventing these kinds of abuses that not only damage the legitimate claims for an injury retirement with the State of California, but damage the reputation of all state employees who work hard and provide a safe California.  These actions will not be tolerated and our investigators with CalPERS will actively seek prosecution to protect the sovereignty of the CalPERS system and all legitimate injury claims.”

“We won’t tolerate state workers or anyone with a CalPERS retirement to abuse the system,” said Barcelona.  “We commend our investigators for exposing this case of fraud, making the bust, and taking this case all the way to conviction.  Their job is to validate the true injuries and illnesses and weed out those who are just making it up to make a free buck.  This was a job well done.”