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The COVID-19 pandemic drove the Office of the New York State Comptroller to move forward creatively and identify new ways to tap into and analyze data. Auditors and examiners pursued increased data analysis and used a wider variety of data sources in audit planning and risk assessment, including the Statewide Financial System, First New York data warehouse, New York Benefits Eligibility and Accounting System, CVS Health, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, as well as internal State agency data.

This audit report assessed what factors caused delays in the Kansas Department of Labor’s unemployment claims processing during the COVID-19 pandemic? To answer this question, we spoke with officials from the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) and reviewed KDOL staffing, incident, and call center reports. This audit also includes an updated unemployment insurance fraud estimate. In February 2021 we released the first part of this audit. In that audit we reported a preliminary estimate of how much fraud could have occurred in Kansas in 2020. In this report, we used KDOL claims data from January...

BOSTON – A Dudley man pleaded guilty today in connection with his involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain and misuse COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A Woodlands, Texas, man pleaded guilty today for his role in an unemployment insurance benefits scheme to defraud the California Employment Development Department (EDD).

BOSTON – A New Jersey man was arrested today in connection with his alleged involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – In a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, a Stockton, California, man has been charged for allegedly using multiple California Employment Development Department (EDD) unemployment insurance benefits debit cards in other peoples’ names without their authorization.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A Santa Clarita woman pleaded guilty today to her role in a conspiracy to use other peoples’ personal information — without their consent — to unlawfully apply for and obtain over $250,000 in unemployment insurance benefits from the California Employment Development Department (EDD).

DOL's reported Unemployment Insurance improper payment rate of 9.17 percent is compliant with Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, it is not representative of total unemployment expenses for program year 2020. This occurred for the following reasons: (1) DOL excluded CARES Act of 2020 because these unemployment payments were not in existence for more than 12 months, and (2) DOL received direction from Office of Management and Budget to utilize the results from the first three quarters of the program year. This allowed state workforce agencies to suspend work on improper payment sampling...

We found that the Department failed to implement general Information Technology controls over the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance System, The Department failed to ensure Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants met eligibility requirements, The Department did not have sufficient internal control over the determination of accruals for payments related to both the Unemployment Insurance program and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

We have audited, in accordance with the auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, the financial statements of the governmental activities, the business‐type activities, the aggregate discretely presented component units, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information of the State of Hawaii (the State) as of and for the year ended June 30, 2020, and the related notes to the financial statements, which...

BOSTON – A Stoneham woman pleaded guilty today in connection with her involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19-related unemployment assistance using stolen identities.

BOSTON – A Miami woman was indicted yesterday in connection with allegedly filing for and obtaining fraudulent pandemic-related loans and using those funds for personal expenses.

BOSTON – Two Nigerian nationals were indicted on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in connection with their roles in expansive online fraud schemes targeting individuals in the United States, including romance scams and pandemic unemployment assistance fraud.

BOSTON – A former New Bedford man pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston yesterday to federal wire fraud charges arising from claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funds.

BOSTON – A Stoneham man was indicted today in connection with his alleged involvement in a fraudulent scheme to obtain COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

The State of Oklahoma Single Audit Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020 contains the independent auditor’s reports on compliance for each major federal program, on internal control over compliance, and on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) required by Uniform Guidance. Additionally, the Statewide SEFA is included and reflects $10,130,470,891 in federal expenditures during the year. The total federal expenditures increased by approximately $3 billion from SFY2019 due to the receipt of additional federal funding because of COVID-19.

The primary objective of this report is to summarize the unemployment benefits and relief received by Missouri citizens, government entities, and nonprofit organizations related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency from declaration of the emergency through April 2021. Through April 30, 2021, more than 600,000 Missouri citizens have received assistance totaling more than $4.9 billion from at least one of the unemployment benefit programs.

The primary objective of this report is to summarize the unemployment benefits and relief received by Missouri citizens, government entities, and nonprofit organizations related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency from declaration of the emergency through October 2020. Through October 31, 2020, more than 500,000 Missouri citizens have received assistance totaling nearly $3.8 billion from at least one of the unemployment benefit programs.

BOSTON – A Lawrence woman pleaded guilty today in connection with her involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

BOSTON – A Leicester woman and man were charged in a superseding indictment by a federal grand jury in Worcester in connection with their alleged involvement in a pandemic unemployment fraud scheme.

The objective of the audit was to determine whether the use of Public Health Emergency Leave aligned with Port policy. In order to achieve this objective, Internal Audit utilized a risk-based approach, selected a sample of individuals who took Public Health Emergency Leave.

The purpose of this audit was to identify potentially improper payments the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) made to deceased individuals. We found that, of the approximately $8.57 billion in State and Federal Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit payments made by LWC, approximately $1.08 million (0.013%) was paid to 374 individuals after they died. Of that amount, $629,091 in payments could not have been prevented, $337,007 of the payments should have been prevented by LWC’s current controls, and $123,194 could have been prevented if LWC conducted a weekly match with the Louisiana...

We performed procedures at the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) to provide assurances on financial information that was significant to the state’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report; evaluate the effectiveness of LWC’s internal controls over financial reporting and compliance; and determine whether LWC complied with applicable laws and regulations. We found that LWC did not have adequate internal controls and did not comply with requirements of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) federal program.

The purpose of this audit was to identify potential improper payments the Louisiana Workforce Commission made to incarcerated individuals who, according to LWC policy and state law, were ineligible to qualify for Unemployment Insurance and federally funded COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment assistance programs. We found that LWC made approximately $6.2 million in State and Federal UI payments to 1,195 incarcerated individuals who do not appear to have been eligible for the benefits. We found that 81 percent identified through this analysis qualified through the Federal UI program designed...

This report provides the results of our evaluation of select Unemployment Insurance programs administered by the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC). The purpose of this evaluation was to identify potentially improper payments LWC made to individuals who appear to have been ineligible for unemployment benefits based on their income/

The Single Audit Act of 1984, subsequent amendments, and corresponding regulations, require an annual audit of the financial statements and compliance with requirements applicable to major federal programs. Volume II contains elements required under the Uniform Guidance, including the Report on Compliance for Each Major Federal Program and Report on Internal Control over Compliance in Accordance with the Uniform Guidance, and the Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs.

The Single Audit Act of 1984, subsequent amendments, and corresponding regulations, require an annual audit of the financial statements and compliance with requirements applicable to major federal programs. Volume I contains financial reporting information based on our audit of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. It includes the APA’s opinion on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) in relation to the financial statements, the Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting and on Compliance and Other Matters Based on an Audit of Financial Statements Performed in...

This audit attempts to answer the following question. What types of unemployment claims fraud schemes is the Kansas Department of Labor aware of and how are they being addressed?

This notification was an advisory notice for representatives of all governmental entities to carefully verify information received in an any correspondence received from IWD regarding claims for unemployment insurance benefits, as unknown parties are attempting to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims as if they were former employees of certain governmental entities.

This operational audit of the Department of Economic Opportunity (Department) focused on evaluating selected information technology (IT) application and general controls applicable to the Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits Information System (RA System, also known as CONNECT) and following up on the findings noted in our report No. 2019-183, as applicable to the scope of this audit.

This report presents our compliance audit of the State of Colorado for Fiscal Year 2020. The Statewide Financial Audit Report, which was released under separate cover in March 2021, includes the financialand IT-related findings and recommendations from our Fiscal Year 2020 audit.

The economic shutdowns in early 2020 led to historically high numbers of UI claims in a very short time (claim surge), and further shutdowns began in December 2020, raising the potential for additional spikes in unemployment. This audit reviewed EDD’s response to the claim surge, its handling of the resulting backlog of unpaid claims, and the assistance it has provided to individuals through its call center

Since the surge in pandemic‑related California unemployment claims began in March 2020, individuals, news organizations, and law enforcement officials have reported many cases of potential and actual UI fraud. Not surprisingly, the pandemic conditions increased EDD’s UI workloads and also resulted in changes to federal UI benefit programs, both of which have created a greater risk of fraud.

Auditor Faber’s Office issued a qualified opinion on the Unemployment Compensation Fund, and Business-Type Activities opinion units in the State of Ohio’s financial statements due to internal control weaknesses related to recipient eligibility and claims processing of unemployment benefits. A qualified opinion indicates the auditors could not be assured the financials for these opinion units are fairly presented, in all material respects, based on the issues identified. This is a significant qualification.