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The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act would provide a
five-year extension on the statute of limitations for criminally
prosecuting those who stole unemployment benefits.
During a recent Ways and Means Work and Welfare Subcommittee
hearing, Work and Welfare Chairman Darin LaHood, R-Ill., shared
details of the recent conviction in Pennsylvania of a man who
stole $59 million in public benefits, including unemployment,
and funneled the funds to his co-conspirators in China.
“This is a must pass bill,” said LaHood. “Federal law
enforcement agencies are in the middle of litigating hundreds of
cases with hundreds more yet to be litigated.”
According to the Department of Justice, there are still 157,000
open UI fraud complaints and 1,648 open investigations. The
current statute of limitations is scheduled to expire on March
27, 2025, without Congressional action.
An estimated $100 billion to $135 billion of UI benefits from
the pandemic were lost in the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars
in American history. Of that, only $5 billion has been
recovered.
LaHood said the same people who stole pandemic unemployment
benefits are still at work.
“The same groups doing the same thing are happening now,” said
LaHood. “This time, criminals are stealing disaster benefits
owed to the Los Angeles fire and North Carolina hurricane
victims.”
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, over 1,400 people
have been convicted of unemployment insurance fraud since the
start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The measure passed out of committee and is headed to the U.S.
House floor. Similar legislation which extended the statute of
limitations for PPP fraud was passed by Congress. |
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