Idaho Unemployment Insurance Fraud

Here’s an item from the “crime doesn’t pay” file. A 37-year-old Heyburn man was placed on five years probation and ordered to repay over $15,000 in illegally claimed unemployment insurance benefits and penalties.

While your average criminal might be tempted to rob a bank, counterfeit $1,000 bills or plan a huge jewelry heist, this suspect decided that it was easier to apply for unemployment, even if he happened to be earning more than $80,000 per year at the time.

The man pleaded guilty to grand theft in late August. Under the sentence imposed by 5th District Judge Barry Wood, he will serve 4 to 14 years in prison if he fails to successfully complete probation and repay the benefits and penalties.

Between November 2002 and March 2003, the man claimed unemployment benefits even though he was working as a truck driver and was paid nearly $27,000. That works out to more than $81,000 per year.

In Idaho, unemployment benefits are paid from a trust fund financed with taxes paid by Idaho’s nearly 50,000 employers.

In 2005 Idaho Commerce & Labor’s unemployment insurance division uncovered nearly $2.5 million in unemployment insurance fraud and during the year recovered more than $3.9 million from fraud and overpayments. In addition to prosecution, stricter financial penalties for fraud were approved by the Idaho Legislature and went into effect July 1.

To track down potential fraud, the division has beefed up its team of investigators and installed a new automated computer system that quickly cross-references and checks the information it receives from claimants, such as verifying earnings.

Under state law, it is a felony for a person to obtain unemployment insurance benefits based upon a knowing misrepresentation or omission, such as misreporting earnings while claiming unemployment insurance benefits. Persons reporting suspected fraud will remain anonymous if they request it.