Fraudulent claims drained $25 million from the New Jersey unemployment-insurance program system each of the last two years and are on pace to cost even more this year, according to state records. The number of bogus claims — more than 7,300 last year — reflects the desperation of cash-strapped workers as they struggle through the recession, authorities said. Many of the fraudulent claims came from workers who had been laid off but continued to collect benefits after finding new employment, labor officials said.
Fraudulent claims have robbed $97 million from the fund since the start of 2006, according to data obtained through an Open Public Records Act request. About one-third of that money will never be recovered, officials said.
“Most people we talk to say, ‘Yeah, I know I wasn’t entitled to those benefits, but I really needed the money,’ ” said Deputy Attorney General Scott Patterson, who oversees the prosecution of labor-fraud cases. Full story in Star Ledger.
shows how outdated the system is. If most of the fraud comes from people who have gone back to work, those who go back to work on the books are now paying unemployment tax. A simple computer program should be able to cross reference those getting benefits and also paying the tax and cut them off.