Michigan paid billions to scammers who took advantage of the state’s unemployment system during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, a new report revealed that at least $8.5 billion were shelled out over 19 months in fraudulent jobless benefits. Many people profited from the lax qualifications of the state’s unemployment system, which rushed to aid workers who had been laid off during the pandemic. State auditors also found that the agency incorrectly paid $3.9 billion to applicants who were later deemed ineligible.
Director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency, Julia Dale, said she feels “outrage and certainly frustration” at the massive amount of money paid to fraudsters. However, she is proud of the state’s efforts to prevent this from happening again. Dale said the agency dodged an estimated $43.7 billion in fraudulent claims from March 2020 through September 2021, though they paid $34.5 billion in assumingly legit benefits over that time period.
Deloitte, the investigative company, hired by the state to look into the scheme, estimates that between $2.7 billion and $2.8 billion was paid to scammers. About $5.6 billion to $5.7 billion in benefits went to legitimate applicants who misrepresented their eligibility, likely to increase the amount of money they received.
“This is absolutely unacceptable to the taxpayers of Michigan, and there should be consequences for this level of gross mismanagement,” Rep. Steve Johnson, chair of the House Oversight Committee, shared in a statement following the findings.
