According to Examining Widespread Fraud in Pandemic Unemployment Relief Programs, a recent report from the House Oversight Committee, taxpayers were ripped off for some $191 billion. A key player in the widespread fraud is Biden-Harris labor secretary Julie Su, former secretary of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency in charge of the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD). As the report notes:
EDD, under leadership of Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) secretary Julie Su, made the decision early in the pandemic to “pay and chase” after she was informed that keeping integrity checks in place would lead to a backlog in processing claims largely due to EDDs outdated IT.
EDD did not make substantive changes to its fraud detection practices until July 2020 when it finally began stopping automated payments on fraudulent claims. However, EDD still delayed in responding when there was clear evidence of fraudulent activity and even when state auditors identified claims as suspicious.
EDD failed to cross-reference applicants with databases of incarcerated individuals and lost around $810 million to these fraudulent claims. EDD made $10.4 billion in payments to individuals with unconfirmed identities.
While EDD seemed able to get benefits out to fraudsters and identity thieves without delay, EDD unnecessarily delayed benefits for several million applicants, allegedly due to missing documents.
As the report notes, on Su’s watch, someone was filing claims with the Social Security number of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Another individual used the name “Mr. Poopy Pants” and “received an approved claim.” Fontrell Antonio Baines of Memphis, better known as rapper Nuke Bizzle, filed “92 fraudulent applications.” Baines has been convicted of mail fraud and other charges, but his EDD video about the ease of ripping off California remains online.
Of the nearly $200 billion in fraud nationwide, only $6.8 billion has been recovered, and it gets worse. The General Accounting Office, which is not the U.S. Supreme Court, has ruled that Julie Su can remain acting labor secretary without confirmation by the Senate. As the report notes:
When Julie Su became DOL acting secretary, she moved to forgive herself for the debt she could have prevented but failed to do so. Julie Su has been avoiding accountability since before the pandemic and will continue to do so until she is forced to face consequences for her negligence.
Hasn’t happened so far, and the fraud is about to get more widespread. As Thomas Buckley of the California Globe warns, Julie Su is proposing a permanent system “eerily similar” to the federal pandemic unemployment plans, handing out “extra” pay every time a recession is declared.
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