A Fresno family spent the Fourth of July without electricity after PG&E cut off their utilities and accused them of energy fraud, leaving them to endure days of triple-digit heat while trying to get answers.
For six days, the family lived out of a trailer as they fought to have their power restored.
“We’ve been suffering trying to make the best of the situation. It’s very hot,” Jessica Sicairos, who was accused of energy fraud, said.
Sicairos said she learned the utilities had been shut off while she was away.
“I was at the grocery store and I got to call that utilities were disconnected. On my way back home, I called them and they told me they were unable to tell me why my utilities were disconnected,” she said.
The family was initially told the shutoff was because they had not paid their bills, but they said that was not true.
They were then accused of meter tampering.
The family later…
This category refers to crimes committed by employees or insiders against their own organizations. It is often the most damaging because the perpetrator has authorized access to systems.
- Asset Misappropriation: The most common form, involving the theft of company resources. This ranges from simple “skimming” (taking cash before it’s recorded) to complex schemes involving the theft of inventory or intellectual property.
- Payroll Fraud: Employees may create “ghost employees” on the system, falsify their own timesheets to claim unworked overtime, or divert salary payments to their own accounts.
- Financial Statement Fraud: Management deliberately misrepresents the company’s financial health by inflating revenue or hiding liabilities to attract investors or meet performance bonuses.