by Shirleen Guerra
Virginia has given out $817.3 million in improper unemployment benefits over a three-year period.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that 43.8% of the unemployment benefits paid out by the state from July 2019 through June 2022 were improper. Department of Labor reported a 21.52% national improper payment rate over the three-year period. Improper payments are payments that should not have been made or were made in the incorrect amount.
The Department of Labor stated Virginia’s 43.8% was the highest improper rate in the country, but warned that comparing states could be misleading because of the varying ways states track unemployment.
The Department of Labor’s report does not cover fraud from federal pandemic emergency programs. The report cited “separation issues” as the top reason accounting overpayment cases. “Separation issues” refer to inaccurate reporting of a claimant’s reason for leaving a job. The report stated the second-leading cause of overpayment cases was “other eligibility issues”, which can refer to refusal to find suitable work, self-employment or filing a claim using someone else’s identity.
“In January 2022, at the beginning of the Youngkin Administration, there was a backlog of 258,000 of potentially fraudulent unpaid and paid claims to investigate,” said Carrie Roth, commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission, in an email to The Center Square. “As a result of completing this work, over $1.6 billion in paid claims resulted from identity theft. In addition, about $1 billion was prevented from being paid. This work was completed in a year.”
Roth also told The Center Square that two of the state investigators had been recognized for their work by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General for their work in uncovering the extensive fraud ring-centered state prisons resulting in the case U.S. vs. Mary Landon Benton.
“Working with the federal government, there have been 119 cases with 97 convictions and over $12.5 million in restitution ordered. Working with the Virginia Attorney General’s office, there have been nearly 40 indictments, 23 convictions, and $269,003 in court-ordered restitution. This work is ongoing,” said Roth.
The Payment Integrity Information Act requires all state programs give annual reports on improper payment rates below 10%.
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Shirleen Guerra is a staff reporter for The Center Square. Shirleen attended Odessa College where she completed an apprenticeship through The Odessa American where she previously freelanced.
