ODJFS employee wrongly released $565K in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits, inspector general says
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) — An Ohio Inspector General investigation has revealed a temporary worker for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services improperly released more than $565,000 in pandemic-era relief funds in 2021, some of which went to her relatives and acquaintances.
The case has been referred to a county prosecutor and the state auditor.
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The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program was created by Congress in 2020 to address rising unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the program expanded, ODJFS received 'an unprecedented number' of new unemployment claims, according to a Thursday news release from the IG's office. The agency hired several new intermittent and temporarily contracted workers to handle the influx of claims.
The agency disbursed about $7.6 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits in the 2021 fiscal year. Millions of those dollars were later determined to be fraudulent, according to the release.
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ODJFS in August 2021 referred a claim of wrongdoing by one of those intermittent workers to the inspector general's office.
Investigators learned the woman previously worked for a private organization as a customer service representative processing PUA claims. In both jobs, she acted outside her authority by releasing a total of $565,949 over 28 PUA claims, according to the release.
Investigators found the woman improperly searched for PUA claimants and removed fraud and eligibility issues and fact-finding information from their claims, allowing them to move ahead. Five of the claims were for her relatives and acquaintances, according to the release.
Read the full investigation on the Inspector General's website.
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