Pandemic-related fraud totaled billions. California is trying to get some of it back
SAN FRANCISCO — California is slowly clawing back some of the estimated $20 billion in unemployment money stolen by domestic and international criminals, money earmarked for jobless relief during the height of the pandemic.
It is, by far, the largest reported amount of pandemic related fraud in any state.
But critics say the California money recovery effort remains feeble, with too few people held to account, and that the real fraud figure is likely far higher.
"It's too late and too little, and even the systems they presently have can still be defrauded," says Jim Patterson, a Republican state assemblyman and vice chair of the state's Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review. "That's not good enough."
Nationally, the total amount of unemployment insurance fraud is staggering. The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of that "at least $163 billion in pandemic UI benefits could have been paid improperly, with a significant portion attributable to fraud."
