Yes, he does owe the money. The issue is privacy of his claims material. Somebody in his immediate circle had his information, his claims password, all the necessary stuff to file for it. There's really no way to show he wasn't involved, wasn't cooperating with this happening, wasn't profiting by this. It's a useless argument, anyway, because all over the claims material that he signed when he signed up for it is the assurance that HE is responsible for the privacy of his information and that he understands this fully.
It is remarkably common that people do this though, try to keep drawing while incarcerated, which is the reason that the two systems cross match. It is also very common for it to be doing without the person really knowing, it might be a wife, girlfriend, other family member, whatever. If he left his materials in a drawer or on the nightstand, he's still at fault, he was supposed to protect the privacy of the information so that no one else could commit fraud in his name.
The appropriate thing to do, of course, would've been to stop filing for weeks of benefits as soon as the first week passed that he was in jail. This would've put his claim on hold, and when he came out, and was once again able, available and ready to make work searches again, he could've re opened the claim (they're good for a whole year from the time of filing) He wouldn't have committed fraud and would even have been able to pick up and draw out the rest of the weeks to which he was entitled.
That said, he didn't, they caught it. Now they more than anything else, want that money back. With penalties since he was committing fraud (or whoever filed the claims for him was committing fraud.) He's the one who'll be asked to pay it back. Depending on his circumstances, he can possibly ask for a waiver of the overpayment. Of course they are very used to dealing with the indigent, people who lack the capacity to pay the money back.
But if he gets another job, they may very well garnish his paychecks. That'd be a quick step. If he'd prefer this not happen, he needs to get with them, work with them, and set up his own payment plan, such that he can pay it off. It is always better to come up with a small monthly payment and keep it coming regularly than to overpromise and then have to miss the payments when something intervenes.
As for being prosecuted, there's not a whole lot of likelihood IF he works with the system and cooperates with them. It doesn't matter if his momma or his Uncle Sidney actually filed the weeks of claim. The fact that he was incarcerated while the benefits were drawn makes it still slightly more likely they would be tempted to carry this whole deal further.
In the first place, "I was working somewhere else and drawing benefits" doesn't carry the same amount of emotionally effective portrayal as "I was in jail while drawing unemployment benefits!" and they'd get more noticeable publicity out of it if they prosecuted it and it appears in the news. Both situations are common as dirt, and happen all the time, which is the reason they have very little expectation that people will not do these things and therefore cross match everything to death. And also the reason they do not by any means prosecute every single one of them.
If your friend works with the fraud unit, agrees to make timely repayments, and keeps those payments going until the situation is resolved, he has very little chance of being prosecuted. If he ignores them, blows off the first two or three contacts they make with him, demands to know, with f-bombs, why he should pay off money HE doesn't owe, insists his crazy ex girlfriend who has now conveniently committed suicide did it and he's not going to pay.......(I'm still in doubt about that one!) anyhow, it would be possible he could end up being prosecuted. They do it in terms of how much "bang for the buck" they can get, how much noticeable publicity it will generate that the agency is on top of things and is actively pursuing all the fraudsters and welfare cheats out there.
Remember, this is Texas. They do things just a little different there sometimes. And it is a time of low unemployment, which means the fraud unit is not quite as busy as at other times, might have some free time to more fully investigate the numerous fraud situations they always have avaible. In an employer friendly state (and how!) like Texas, employers and legislators want to hear how they are dropping the hammer hard on those unemployment cheaters of the world. Particularly the ones who are in the criminal justice system.So do not take chances. Work with them. Cooperate fully. Be willing to pay it back.
