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| Arizona Unemployment Benefits Going to the Incarcerated |
| By tucsonweekly.com - Kellie Mejdrich |
| Published: 03/08/2012 |
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Over the past two years, 475 Arizona prisoners collected $1.1 million in unemployment benefits while sitting in their cells. On Feb. 8, the state Department of Economic Security found the 475 individuals by cross-matching lists of their beneficiaries and people incarcerated with the state Department of Corrections, said Tasya Peterson, communications director with DES. On Feb. 22, DES began trying to recapture the $1.1 million in overpayments from January 2010 to January 2012. DES presently cannot not report how much money they’ve collected and from who, but they are seeking collection in a number of ways including offsetting future benefits, seizing federal and state tax returns, and working with the Attorney General’s office to prosecute those who have collected enough benefits to constitute criminal unemployment fraud, Peterson said. “In cases of fraud where the amount of the overpayment is significant enough to reach criminal prosecution level, we will get a court order for restitution,” Peterson said. DES is now in the process of checking its unemployment benefit holders against those in county jails, “to receive similar information,” said Kevan Kaighn, another media spokesman with DES. Following this discovery, various state agencies are scrambling to prosecute fraudulent collections and prevent future abuse. Gov. Jan Brewer’s office conceded that “while no government program is foolproof,” she’s “encouraged that the Department of Economic Security and Department of Corrections are cooperating with the Arizona Attorney General's Office to ensure that any individuals who gamed the system in this manner are prosecuted,” according to a prepared statement issued by Matthew Benson, communications director the Governor’s office. Last year, data from the U.S. Department of Labor revealed Arizona had the 4th highest rate in the nation for improper unemployment payments, and had given out more than $434 million incorrectly in the past three years. How this actually happened is complicated, officials said but DES acknowledges that there was nothing in place to prevent this fraud in the past, or distinguish between a prisoner and one of the other 99,000 people claiming unemployment in Arizona every week. Read More. |
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