Michael Berry

Michael Berry

Michael Berry has drunk homemade moonshine from North Carolina with Robert Earl Keen, met two presidents with the same last name, been cussed at by...Full Bio

 

Report: Half Of Pandemic Unemployment Payouts Stolen By Foreign Groups

Axios reports that when the shut downs happened, “states weren't prepared for the unprecedented wave of unemployment claims they were about to face. They all knew fraud was inevitable, but decided getting the money out to people who desperately needed it was more important than laboriously making sure all of them were genuine.”

Blake Hall, CEO of ID.me, an anti-fraud agency, says that America has lost more than $400 billion to fraudulent claims.

He says as much as 50% of all unemployment monies might have been stolen. 

Zachary Wolf report that several states reported staggering losses:

  • California. In January, California reported that about $11 billion in fraudulent claims had been paid during the pandemic, about 10% of the total. Up to an additional 17% of the total $114 billion in claims paid were being investigated for fraud. The Employment Development Department estimated that 95% of fraudulent claims were in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. (In 2019, fraud accounted for about 6% of California's total unemployment payments.) In April, Sacramento District Attorney Ann Marie Schubert, who leads a regional task force, said estimates show that more than $20 billion was paid to criminals.
  • Colorado: In April, Colorado's Department of Labor and Employment said $19.4 million has been paid in fraudulent benefits. Nearly 43,000 claims were found to be illegitimate, but the agency is investigating more than 1 million suspected fraudulent claims. (In 2019, fewer than 90 fraudulent claims were discovered.)
  • Ohio: The state Department of Job and Family Services said it had identified $330 million in fraudulent payments in December, the former head of the agency said in a February news conference.
  • Washington: In April, the Washington State Auditor's Office found that nearly $647 million in illegitimate claims were paid in 2020. About $370 million has been recovered. The state Employment Security Department said improper payments were below 10%. (In 2019, the loss due to fraud was 3.4%.) The auditor also flagged another $461 million in questionable payments, though the unemployment agency took issue with this designation

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