Nearly 90 employees of the District of Columbia who collected unemployment benefits while still working for the city have been suspended and face firing and prosecution,
The Washington Post reported.
Another 40 former city workers also cashed checks they were not entitled to, and the city estimated that about $800,000 in unemployment benefits ended up going to city workers since 2009. The revelations follow three years of investigation by local and federal officials, the Post reported.
The employees involved worked for D.C. schools, city government, and city council staff. The alleged fraud generally took the form of workers legitimately receiving benefits and then returning to work while failing to inform the unemployment office. As a result, they continued to collect unemployment benefits while employed, the Post reported.
“Some are people who come in and out of government and never stopped [receiving unemployment checks]. Some may have worked in parts of an agency where for the summer months you don’t work,” Department of Employment Services’ Lisa Mallory told the Post. “There are no clear patterns that we can discern. It’s just a matter of certifying you aren’t receiving income when you are receiving income.”
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