Unemployment Insurance and Fraud – Wisconsin

Unemployment benefits fraud soars in 2009, By Jason Stein, June 6, 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Fraud in Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance program has more than tripled over the past two years to $17.7 million in 2009, according to state figures. Many of the improper payments are being recovered and they are still only a fraction of the total amount the state pays out in benefits to struggling jobless workers. But as part of a national trend, overpayments due to both fraud and honest mistakes are growing more quickly than jobless benefits as a whole and last year, in Wisconsin alone, totaled $51.1 million. The improper payments further stress a state jobless fund that has already been forced to borrow $1.4 billion from the federal government to keep making payments during a time of chronic unemployment…”