Listeners:
Top listeners:
-
play_arrow
$100 Million in COVID-Era Unemployment Fraud Targeted by Republicans
By Thérèse Boudreaux | The Center Square
(Worthy News) – Legislation that would give the U.S. Department of Justice more time to track down and punish pandemic-era unemployment insurance (UI) fraud is on its way to the U.S. House floor.
The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., provides a five-year extension on the statute of limitations for criminally prosecuting those who committed CARES Act related UI fraud.
According to the DOJ, there are still 157,000 open UI fraud complaints and 1,648 open investigations. If no congressional action is taken, the current statute will expire on March 27, leaving thousands of Americans unreimbursed for stolen benefits and potentially hundreds of fraudsters would be let off the hook.
“Given the volume of existing cases currently under investigation, there is no reason that Congress should not act to ensure law enforcement stays on this beat and goes after these criminals,” Smith told lawmakers. “If we don’t extend the statute of limitations, every one of these investigations will end and those that perpetrated the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history will not be brought to justice.”
While the Government Accountability Office estimates that upwards of $100 billion in unemployment benefits were lost to fraud during the pandemic, only $5 billion have been recovered.
“Fraudsters ran rampant during COVID, taking advantage of states like California that had weak fraud protections in their unemployment insurance systems,” U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., a member of the Ways and Means Committee, said. “We can’t let them off the hook by letting the statute of limitations expire.”
Currently, more than 2,000 individuals have been charged with, and over 1,400 convicted of, unemployment insurance fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The bill has 25 cosponsors, all Republican, and is part of the GOP’s efforts to address waste, fraud, and abuse connected to the federal government.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
President Donald Trump said the United States carried out a major bombing raid on Iran’s Kharg Island, destroying what he described as every military target on the strategically vital export hub.
An explosion damaged a Jewish school in Amsterdam early Saturday in what authorities described as a deliberate attack against the Jewish community, raising alarm after recent assaults on synagogues in the Netherlands and neighboring Belgium.
Pakistani police have launched a criminal investigation after a young Christian man was brutally killed in the eastern city of Lahore, an attack that has shocked members of the country’s small Christian community, investigators told Worthy News on Saturday.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump says the United States and allied nations should send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz near Iran, a strategic waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Investigations continued Friday after a suspected Islamist gunman opened fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University in the U.S. state of Virginia on Thursday, killing a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) instructor and wounding two others before he was subdued by students and died, officials said.
All six crew members aboard a U.S. refueling aircraft have died after the plane crashed over western Iraq, the U.S. military confirmed Friday, as fighting between the United States, Israel, and Iran continued to intensify.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that Iran’s newly installed supreme leader is likely wounded, disfigured, and hiding underground as the Islamic Republic reels from the opening blows of the war with the United States and Israel.
WHO WE ARE
The Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs encapsulate the beauty, wisdom, and eternal truths found in the Bible, creating an immersive experience that resonates with believers and seekers alike.
CONTACT
- +1 908 280-4246
- Essex County, USA
- info@tnjrfm.com