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U.S. Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Now Tops a Staggering $191 Billion!
PJ Media ^ | 02/09/2023 | Rick Moran

Posted on 02/09/2023 7:26:59 AM PST by SeekAndFind

Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has convened hearings “on how Democrats, at every turn, blocked investigations into the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history,” said Smith in his opening statement.

“Today’s hearing has been a long time coming. For more than two years, Republicans have been sounding the alarm about the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history, the massive fraud perpetrated in the unemployment insurance program that skyrocketed with the COVID-19 pandemic. While many Americans who actually qualified for these benefits were left struggling to reclaim their benefits and their identity, upwards of tens of billions of taxpayer dollars have been stolen.”

Labor Department Inspector General Larry D. Turner testified before the Committee that the amount of fraud in the pandemic relief program has topped $191 billion, with the investigation ongoing.

From Politico:

The Labor Department believes a larger share of unemployment insurance benefits were improperly paid than its previous calculations — 21.5 percent versus 18.7 percent of the total last year — accounting for the upward shift in the estimated amount lost to waste and fraud.

But federal officials acknowledge that they cannot precisely identify how much federal aid was wrongfully sent out.

UI benefits are just one of a handful of large government programs that were created or expanded during the pandemic to help individuals and businesses harmed by the disruptions it caused to the economy.


(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: covid; fraud; pandemic; unemployment

1 posted on 02/09/2023 7:26:59 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
If you look at the figures, That’s at least one in five dollars appropriated by the federal government for extended unemployment benefits during the pandemic that ended up in the pockets of people who weren’t eligible.

Where did it all go? California offers one example. Unbelievably, there were 35,000 unemployment claims filed by California prison inmates, and at least 20,000 of the claims were paid out.

How could that have happened? It turns out that the identities of benefit recipients weren’t cross-checked against those who are incarcerated. This routine, mundane security measure that required a few computer keystrokes cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars.

2 posted on 02/09/2023 7:28:51 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Since a lot of it was used for weed, they got a lot of the money back!


3 posted on 02/09/2023 7:29:17 AM PST by albie
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To: albie

Starve the beast. It’s the only way out. Eliminate entire departments. That way the rest can be more thoroughly scrutinized.


4 posted on 02/09/2023 7:30:58 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET
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To: SeekAndFind

WTAF? That’s it? $191 billion? Or is that “so far”? Guess someone never expected that result huh? Now, any idea how much fraud-acity is occuring in with Mr Z while saving democracy?


5 posted on 02/09/2023 7:32:15 AM PST by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this? 😕)
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To: SeekAndFind

They can track down people who were near the Capitol on Jan 6th but they can’t find people who stole $181 billion (even though they received/deposited checks).


6 posted on 02/09/2023 7:36:06 AM PST by Brooklyn Attitude (I went to bed on November 3rd 2020 and woke up in 1984.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Nothing changes till the money runs out...................


7 posted on 02/09/2023 7:42:54 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: rktman

Washington state alone lost at least 600 million to fraud. I don’t need to mention which party has an iron grip on the state, but I’ll say it begins with a D.


8 posted on 02/09/2023 7:59:08 AM PST by allblues (God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat but Satan is definitely a Democrat)
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To: SeekAndFind

All planned by the politicians who pushed this hot mess.


9 posted on 02/09/2023 8:24:31 AM PST by Worldtraveler once upon a time (Degrow government)
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To: Brooklyn Attitude

Funny how that seems to be, doesn’t it?


10 posted on 02/09/2023 10:17:12 AM PST by newzjunkey (Trump cannot win in 2024)
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To: Worldtraveler once upon a time

It wasn’t planned. They didn’t care. It’s not their money.


11 posted on 02/09/2023 10:17:54 AM PST by newzjunkey (Trump cannot win in 2024)
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To: SeekAndFind

The government has too much money.


12 posted on 02/09/2023 10:18:55 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: SeekAndFind

Yet another reason the politicians called communist chinese covid-19 a pandemic when it was not.
They could steal.


13 posted on 02/09/2023 5:19:39 PM PST by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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To: newzjunkey
--- "It wasn't planned. They didn't care. It's not their money."

All laws and regulations are planned. Unintended consequences so often occur, but underlying the whole is the assertion by those who pass laws and write regulations that they "know" what they are doing. Even when they don't.

On a parallel theme, is it not interesting that almost no politician and no bureaucrat ever, ever says they erred?

14 posted on 02/10/2023 9:15:39 AM PST by Worldtraveler once upon a time (Degrow government)
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