The Wall Street Journal is reporting covid-19 unemployment fraud may have surpassed $45 billion dollars.
They report that people used social security numbers from dead and imprisoned people to get money from the program. The white collar criminals made fraudulent unemployment insurance claims meant for people laid off during the covid-19 pandemic.
There was also millions of dollars stolen from state coffers when the money was transferred from the federal government to Sacramento. Initially, it was reported to be hackers who intercepted the money, but investigators suspect it was state officials who facilitated the embezzlement of money intended for those impacted by the government shutdown.
The $45 billion dollar estimate is three times greater than what watchdog groups reported last summer in fraudulent payments.
