Officials with the Kansas Department of Labor have been trying to avoid paying out fraudulent unemployment claims through the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, hundreds of millions of dollars were paid out last year, according to a report Tuesday by the department.
KDOL says it paid out $140 million from the state’s regular unemployment program last year. It also paid out over $150 million attributed to federal benefits programs.
Governor Laura Kelly says KDOL has referred over 50,000 cases of alleged fraud to federal law enforcement partners for investigation and possible prosecution. She says KDOL has stopped about 500,000 fraudulent claims which could have cost more than $22 billion if those had been paid. Kansas implemented a new fraud mitigation software package earlier this month, and Kelly says that has slowed down the number of fraudulent claims.
The $290 billion in unemployment fraud payments here is not isolated to Kansas. California paid out over $11 billion, while Washington state paid out $600 million and Ohio paid out $330 million. The US Department of Labor says unemployment fraud has cost taxpayers over $35 billion since the pandemic started, or about 11 percent of total unemployment insurance payouts over the last year.
If you believe you have been victimized by identity fraud or unemployment fraud, report it online to www.reportfraud.ks.gov.
