What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA
The unemployment people are checking me out for "overpayment" for the past 5 years since 2009. They are claiming FAULT overpayment. I did not realize that I had been doing this overpayment since it has been over many years.
I am contacting a lawyer Tuesday
However 1) can I get this brought to NON FAULT
2) Can I avoid Jail Time?
3 What can I say or do to get this Handled quietly with out Jail time.
I do not agree that we need to know a whole lot about how this happened or your particular circumstances. You did it. There's no way you can negotiate this.
Hiring a lawyer will do you no good at this point at all. Either you did the overpayment or you did not. If you did the overpayment, which I would be willing to bet a LOT you did it, you did it. There's not really a lot of appeal to that. A "fault" overpayment is not a legal charge, it is an agency term which means that you were not accidentally overpaid because of a reversed decision or something of this sort, (for example, the claim was first approved, then denied by agency decision, that's a non-fault overpayment) But this was a case in which you knowingly and willful misreported wages or worked while claiming benefits. There's no "bargaining this down to a non fault" overpayment. It's one kind or the other.
There is really no way you can get away with misreporting your wages, as ALL legitimate employers pretty much have to report any work you did for them for wages and the system cross matches all wages you received from all sources. They even have access to your tax records and other documentation of how much you worked. So even if you lied on your cerifications for the week, they have you cold. If you are reported for fraud, they'll investigate and will find out even if you are working under the table or as a contractor.
They do not, as a rule, prosecute people criminally unless the fraud is large, blatant, and if the person lawyers up and refuses to work with them and consider repayment as an option. 99% of the attorneys you would have access to will have very little knowledge or specialization in unemployment matters anyway.
What I would strongly advise you to do is to work directly with the fraud and overpayment unit. You call them, you express your desire to repay the overpayment, and I bet you won't be looking at any kind of prosecution, any kind of jail time.
Save your breath. They do not want to hear you express remorse. Skip the stupid "I didn't do it" or "I will admit to nothing"or "I didn't understand the right way to do it" or even the "Well, I was desperate, my baby needed formula." You did it. They have the records. They'll want repayment with interest and penalties (Why should the unemployment system give you an interest free loan you were not entitled to?)
They can and probably will begin with garnishing your paychecks if you are working and refuse to set up a repayment schedule voluntarily. If you are financially distressed to the point where you could not possibly pay the overpayment back, which I doubt since you have the money to hire an attorney, you would be able to request a waiver of overpayment in some but not all states. This would involve providing very detailed information about your financial situation, and no don't bother to lie about this either, they do not just take your word for it (any more than they took your word for it when you filed your unemployment certifications) Everything you tell them will be cross checked.
You can appeal their overpayment decision, but how? You either did it or you didn't. I bet you did it, and yes indeedie, you knew exactly what you were doing. There is no statue of limitations, no "Oh, it was so long ago I don't remember." Because they have the records. They keep up with all this stuff. You are guilty and they have the proof.
Only in the very rarest of circumstances does someone get overpaid by agency error. You will need to work with them to determine how you became overpaid, and how much you actually owe back. Your first steps in this process will be set in agency hearings. An attorney will not be helpful to you. Wait until you get this taken to criminal court, after you've really really screwed it up before you consider hiring an attorney. You can do this by avoiding their communications and refusing to talk to them.
If every case where somebody thought they could get away with unemployment fraud was prosecuted criminally, the jails would be much much fuller than they are. You are by no means the first person who has done this, or whom they've dealt with even TODAY. But if you work with them, and above all, repay the overpayment, they will very likely be willing to accept your payment without further penalties.
