Maryland Unemployment Insurance Fraud follow-up

[s_1234]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Sorry for the double post.

Hi I just had an interview with the Maryland Unemployment Division for Fraud. They showed that my that the numbers that I reported in terms of salary were not the same as what I was reporting. In truth I did not report that I have a part-time job when I in fact did have one. This wasn't an attempt to mislead them; I honestly didn't know I needed to do that although I did end up reporting some of the wages that I have earned. Afterwards the numbers were close (what I was reporting versus what my employer reported) but still off. As it stands I have earned 8000 in unemployment. Will I be charged with fraud? This is my first-ever offense and I am about to possibly land a new job. As I mentioned I do not want to go to jail over this.

 

[cbg]

(Next time, please post in your original thread to make it easier for responders to keep track.)

No, you're not going to jail. The UI office is much more interested in resolving discrepancies and getting back any overpayments than they are in jailing people. As long as you cooperate with them and are agreeable to any repayments that may be required, you should be fine.

 

[commentator]

Please re read my original post to you. What did I tell you? You didn't report your earnings correctly. When you are working and drawing, it's usually tricky to do this. They are getting the amount you are making from both your unemployment and your new part time employer's wage reports, so they can see exactly how much you made and when you made it. There's no way you can argue much with that. You can strongly imply that you didn't really do this with intent to defraud the program, just out of general ignorance and unsureness about what you were supposed to do, though that is for them to decide. If they decide you did, and you are overpaid, there's be sactions and penalties as well as the repayment of the actual amount of the overpayment. They will probably issue a decision stating that you are overpaid, by what amount you are overpaid, what sanctions if any are to be applied, and then you work with them to make arrangements to repay the money. If you are still unemployed, they will probably be willing to work with you to do a repayment schedule in increments. In some states you can request a waiver if you are completely indigent. Ask if you think this is possible.

Word to the wise, Do Not overstate your ability to pay and then fail to make the agreed upon payments. Better to set the payments lower, over a longer period, and keep doing them. You are not going to jail.

 

[s_1234]

Okay thank you. I know that I am asking a lot of dumb questions and I am sure you have heard this plenty of times but what do you mean by sanctions?

Also, does the dollar amount matter in terms of the likelihood of prosecution? There were quite a few weeks where I was off.

Again, thank you for the information. I was available for both of their interviews (I had to give a rebuttal statement-there was a question that they had to go back to my employer with) and tried to be very professional (although admittedly I was nervous as hell and rambled a little bit at the end). There is a letter coming in the mail with their decision.

 

[LdiJ]

Okay thank you. I know that I am asking a lot of dumb questions and I am sure you have heard this plenty of times but what do you mean by sanctions?

Also, does the dollar amount matter in terms of the likelihood of prosecution? There were quite a few weeks where I was off.

Again, thank you for the information. I was available for both of their interviews (I had to give a rebuttal statement-there was a question that they had to go back to my employer with) and tried to be very professional (although admittedly I was nervous as hell and rambled a little bit at the end). There is a letter coming in the mail with their decision.

What is the difference between what you reported (in total) and what you actually got paid?

 

[s_1234]

No more than 200$.