The Daily Press

Unemployme­nt fraud may top $60 billion during pandemic

- By Tom Gantert The Center Square

(The Center Square) - A U.S. government report released Monday estimates that there could have been more than $60 billion in unemployme­nt insurance fraud during the pandemic.

The report by the U.S. Government Accountabi­lity Office says that figure is an estimate spread over the entire unemployme­nt system and should be “interprete­d with caution.”

There has been $4.3 billion of unemployme­nt fraud proven by state workforce agencies and at least $45 billion more in transactio­ns that were flagged as potential fraudulent unemployme­nt claims but not confirmed.

The U.S. Department of Labor stated that about $878 billion in total unemployme­nt benefits were paid from April 2020 through September 2022, the report stated. There was $209 billion in expenditur­es under the regular unemployme­nt insurance and about $669 billion payouts under the various pandemic unemployme­nt programs, which ended September 6, 2021.

The U.S. Congress created four new unemployme­nt insurance programs during the pandemic, according to the report.

The report also questioned the U.S. Department of Labor’s efforts to combat fraud.

“The Department of Labor has taken steps to address such fraud,” the U.S. Government Accountabi­lity Office pointed out. “However, the department has yet to develop an antifraud strategy based on leading practices from GAO’s Fraud Risk Framework as required by law.”

The GAO continued: “While these steps help prevent, detect, and respond to fraud, as of December 2022, DOL has not yet developed an antifraud strategy based on leading practices in GAO’s Fraud Risk Framework. Also, it has not yet addressed the six October 2021 recommenda­tions GAO made including to identify, assess the impact of, and prioritize UI fraud risks. These are essential pieces to inform an overall antifraud strategy. Without an antifraud strategy, DOL is not able to ensure that it is addressing the most significan­t fraud risks facing the UI system in alignment with the Fraud Risk Framework.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States