The District Attorney’s Office will ask a judge next week to delay for at least six months any payments from a more than $4 billion settlement over allegations of childhood sexual abuse at probation camps and facilities, arguing that a vast majority of the damages claim may be fraudulent.
In a 34-page motion filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the District Attorney’s Office stated that a preliminary criminal probe into possible fraud has led investigators to believe that as many as 81% of the damages claims may be bogus.
“In light of these findings thus far, District Attorney (Nathan) Hochman respectfully requests an additional temporary stay of the issuance and disbursement of settlement payments of six months until December 31, 2026, which should be sufficient time for the District Attorney’s Office to complete its intermediate investigative review,” prosecutors wrote in the motion. “Premature disbursement continues to pose a substantial risk of interfering with its investigation by complicating witness cooperation, obscuring financial trails, and impairing the office*s ability to identify and prosecute fraudulent activity, as well as unjustly enriching those engaged in fraud at the expense of true victims.”
Hochman announced last year that his office had opened a criminal investigation into allegations that some people may have submitted bogus damages claims to obtain part of the massive settlement approved by the county.
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