Bench Warrant Issued For Carlos Pina In Fraud Case

Police are searching for a Casper man for not showing up to court, in a case where he is accused of falsely reporting his wages.

Carlos Pina was scheduled to attend a Tuesday, October 27th hearing in Natrona County District Court, where he was going to change his plea on one count of obtaining benefits by fraud, but he didn't show up and a judge has issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

He was free on a $3,000 PR bond.

Investigators with the Casper Police Department say in late January 2010, Pina started collecting unemployment benefits, but an audit later showed that from mid-March through mid-July, he had claimed he was not working, when in fact he was.

The Wyoming Division of Unemployment tried multiple times to contact him regarding the discrepancy, but he didn't respond.

The case was eventually turned over to the Investigative Resources of Wyoming Office, who eventually found Pina.

When he was shown past unemployment checks with his signature on them, he claimed it wasn't his, and it may have been his ex-wife,

He denied having an ID card only and the ID number on the checks did not match the Wyoming driver's license that he had.

When interviewed the ex-wife said she had sign a few check's per Pina's direction, but the ID number on the back of the check was Pina's, because he had 2 DUI's on his record and lost his license.

Further investigation revealed the ID number on the cashed checks was from Pina's ID card.

The ex-wife also told investigators that she had been contacted by Pina regarding the situation.