Attorney for the Eastern District California, says. "The key to the kingdom for unemployment insurance fraud benefits was a Social Security number," McGregor Scott, a former U.S. That's about 11% of the $177 billion in jobless benefits paid out for COVID-19 relief.Īnd it wasn't hard: Someone claiming to be U.S. In California alone, fraudsters using stolen social security numbers and stolen or made up names made off with what state officials conservatively estimate is $20 billion. That speediness also meant many claims weren't verified. The emphasis from federal and state officials was on pushing that money out fast - $5 trillion in all to help ease the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General earlier this year told Congress that "at least $163 billion in pandemic UI benefits could have been paid improperly, with a significant portion attributable to fraud." Nationally, the total amount of unemployment insurance fraud is staggering. "It's too late and too little, and even the systems they presently have can still be defrauded," says Jim Patterson, a Republican state assemblyman and vice chair of the state's Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review. It is, by far, the largest reported amount of pandemic related fraud in any state.īut critics say the California money recovery effort remains feeble, with too few people held to account, and that the real fraud figure is likely far higher. SAN FRANCISCO - California is slowly clawing back some of the estimated $20 billion in unemployment money stolen by domestic and international criminals, money earmarked for jobless relief during the height of the pandemic. Facing as much as $2 b billion in fraud, the EDD is near the top of California lawmakers fixit list as they prepare to return to the state Capitol in the new year. The office of the California Employment Development Department is seen in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Dec.
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