Unemployment Insurance fraud

[keegold305]

unemployment

Hi , im new and reading some things posted i have a similar problem i was reduced from 40 hour weeks to 16 (5days-2days) a few months after this happened my friend told me i could be receiving partial unemployment . so i signed up i told 100% truth and was approved . I have never asked for help before but like many its hard times , when i was claiming the weeks every two weeks which they require you to do i was putting the wrong amount because i work the same every week and it should always be the same i never caught on so they where paying me more per week than they should have been. After about 9 month i relized i was putting less than i should have been , so i called ,turned my self in they made decesions against me and i had to pay back about 3 k i have a crapy job and im on unemployment i have no money , my dad who doesnt have to much money him self offered to pay this and i pay him back little by little to help keep me out of jail . however on the papers where it says how much i owe it scares me because it says even if you pay this back you may still face charges . have you ever heard a case like this and what is the likely hood i will be arrested considering i turned my self in , I know ignorance is not a defence but i was unaware i was doing it wrong and there all paid back . thanks for reading my story any response would be helpfull .

 

[ShyCat]

keegold305, please start your own thread (and include your state).

 

[commentator]

Yes, we're waiting for your state, and your own thread here. Also, "they made decisions against me" means they determined you were overpaid, right?
How long ago did they send you this letter stating your exact amount of money you owe?

If you are certifying for unemployment benefits now( in addition to your crapy job) and have an overpayment with the unemployment system, you should not be receiving any money from unemployment, even partial benefits while working. The system in most places I've ever heard of should be taking that money each week certified to put toward your overpayment. Please let us know what state you are in and clarify, because this whole thing sounds totally inaccurate and funky.

 

[keegold305]

unemployment

Hi , sorry i am new to this and never posted anything on any forum before i was just searching google and this site came up . im in miami florida . they told me to keep claiming and they would keep half to pay for the over payment i have repaid the $3,000 in full but im just nervus because the paper with how much i owe say even if you have paid this amount back it can not stop a review by the states attorney however it may have some bearing on if charges will be filed . im just not sure what happens next i help take care of my neice and nephew and i really cant go to jail . just wondering if you've heard anything like this and what happens next . thanks for your quick response any advice would be appricated .

 

[commentator]

If you have repaid the overpayment, and they have send you something that said you have repaid the overpayment, then you are completely out of the woods. This was never pushed through the courts, you have never been charged with criminal fraud, which is the only way you could "go to jail." As I have said frequently, the system is a lot more interested in getting their money back than in prosecuting people. And if they prosecuted everybody who stupidly tries to misrepresent their hours on an unemployment claim once, the jails would be chock full.

It sounds as though you have cooperated with the whole recovery process, and I would safely bet they're not going to come back and charge you with a criminal act at this time. This is over. If you want someone to officially tell you it's over, call the overpayment unit that has been recovering this money and ask them, "Is this all? Am I clear of this overpayment now?"

Of course if you do it again within a year or two, they may get more upset, be a lot less lenient with you next time, because you didn't learn anything. No matter how badly you may need money, do not commit unemployment fraud in the future. They will catch it, and they will get the money back. If they think you haven't got the right attitude, they could prosecute, but it doesn't sound as if they ever did in this case.

 

[cobra11]

please advise unemployment fraud investigation

Hello I have been laid off from my job for 6 months and had been collecting unemployment each week. I recently got a job and was so happy. I worked there 3.5 days and left because it was so complex and out of my realm of understanding and comfort level so I quit. I still collected unemployment benefits for these 3.5 days totaling 28.5 hours because I didn't want to lose my benefits since I have children and my wife makes limited income. I have and do try to look for work all the time but this job didn't work out for me and I'm very disappointed in myself. 3 weeks later after I left this new job I get a letter from the dept. Of labor that they have evidence that I worked and I have to report to a special agent to present my side. Now what? I was wondering what anyone would expect to happen and if I would be cut off from my benefits. I honestly new it was wrong but I did not want to interrupt my claim for 3.5 days. Will I be penalized and have my benefits cut off? Any advice would be appreciated and thank you very much.

 

[Beth3]

At the very least, they're going to want repayment of benefits for the week in which you worked. Since you quit the job voluntarily, they may also want repayment for all the benefits paid since you started the new job.

The best you can hope for is that all they want is repayment and that they don't decide to prosecute you for fraud.

P.S. When you have a question, you're better off starting your own thread rather than piggy-back at the end of someone else's.

 

[commentator]

By the way, starting your own thread and telling us what state you are in would be good. But in the meantime, yeah, you will most definitely be penalized and your benefits stopped. Since you voluntarily quit the last job, the one that you started and didn't report it, and then quit and didn't report that, and made some tiny amount of wages and didn't report that, you actually committed unemployment fraud three times.

And the stuff about your being a parent and your wife making a very low income?--can it. When you signed up for unemployment insurance you did not get approved for it based on your low income. You qualified for it because you were out of work through no fault of your own and had qualifying wages. You agreed to be available and actively seeking work, and each week you certified, you stated formally on your certification form that you had not worked, had not quit a job, had not made any income that week...which in that particular week, was a big fat whopping lie.

The reason you did it was that you thought you could get away with it and just keep drawing benefits, which in this age of cross matching records is virtually impossible. So don't make excuses, just bite the bullet and get with the people who wrote you this letter and start to set it right as soon as possible.

If you accepted a job which turned out to be too hard for you, and you didn't feel able to do, what you should have done was stayed there, showing up every day and trying your very hardest, and if your work was not up to par and they fired you, then you would have been able to go back on your unemployment easily. Being terminated for poor performance, being unable to do the job is not considered a voluntary quit, not considered a misconduct termination. But if you took a job and then didn't like it, weren't good at it, and so you quit, you are flat out of luck.

Because you voluntarily quit this new job, you disqualified yourself for unemployment from here on in most states, as it became your separating employer, and you left for a disqualifying reason. Then, of course is the issue of your fraud in certifying for that week, which as I said, involves three issues. You probably will not have to pay back your whole claim, since you were legitimately eligible for the biggest part of it, but you will have some overpayment to deal with here. They'll decide how much.

Begin at once to get this situation cleared up with the fraud and overpayment unit. I do not think you will have to pay back many weeks before this little episode, though they could penalize you quite a bit if you don't cooperate fully. If you avoid them, ignore their call in letter, they might very well prosecute you, they could, they certainly have the option.

Work with them, confess what you did, exactly how much you made, and set up an overpayment. If you honestly have no money to pay them back right now, you may request a waiver, they will realize that you are actually unemployed, and not apt to have ready money. By providing very explicit details about your finances you may be able to have the repayment postponed. But tell them the truth, they don't need your information, they can get it all for themselves if they need to.

 

[cobra11]

thanks

New York State is my state this occurred in..


Thank you very much for your time and advice. Do you think I need to get a lawyer for this initial meeting? The amount we are talking about is $927 of collected benefits. I was in training at this new job for 3.5 days and I honestly could not do it. Would this be a valid defense on my ability to collect or not? Please review my prevoius answer for reference.

Summary

Laid off December 2010
Collected UI January 2011 thru June 26 2011
New job in early June for 3.5 days for 28.5 hours, quit due to complexity and out of my realm of understanding...
continued to collect UI, based on my thought that i made less than 405 and worked less than 4 days. I did not check i worked becuase i was in training and i thought this was exempt status...

All in All i will pay back the money and i did not intentioally deceive, i was unaware i was in the wrong...

Do i need a lawyer for this situation?



Thank you for any advice

 

[cbg]

Start your own thread, please. This one has already been hijacked too many times.

 

[commentator]

Cobra this is the end of this thread. Answer: Do I need a lawyer for this meeting? No, because there's not really any defense or leeway that having a lawyer could produce for you at this point. A lawyer could not change what is there, could not do away with or negotiate away what they clearly can see has happened. They have pressed no charges against you at this time. You did what you did. They have all the proof they need. A lawyer would cost you money and would accomplish nothing. You will not be dealing with a judge and a court system in this meeting, you are dealing with a fraud investigator.

That you did not understand the job and could not do it is not defensible excuse to quit it. You should have let them terminate you, tell you that you weren't working out, let it be their choice to let you go. But because you weren't enjoying this job, this work situation, you made the personal decision to quit before they made the decision to let you go.

But the more major issue is that you lied about having worked there that week. You lied by not reporting the money you had made, and you lied about quitting the job.

"I did not check i worked becuase i was in training and i thought this was exempt status..." Please do not insult their intelligence by using this kind of silly excuse. No excuses are necessary or helpful. What do you think, they're going to say, "Oh, okay, if you didn't understand, that's all right, just go on." You knew what it meant when it said "Did you work? Did you make any wages? Did you quit a job? You lied because you didn't want to miss a week's pay and you thought you could get away with it.

Meet with them, admit your mistake in judgement without bogus excuses and make arrangements to repay this money. As I said, the more you cooperate with them, the less trouble you'll have from this. Ask about waivers if you feel you cannot pay the money off right now. You should have the right to request this and they should be able to tell you about how it works. If you have more weeks of unemployment to draw, they may let you file for these weeks and take them to pay back the overpayment and penalties.