Scathing audit finds Andrew Cuomo’s New York lost $11 billion in unemployment fraud in 2020; NY state must pull out all the stops to recover that epic $11B in illegal jobless payments, and other C-Virus related stories

Scathing audit finds Andrew Cuomo’s New York lost $11 billion in unemployment fraud in 2020:

New York let fraudsters make off with at least $11 billion in taxpayer cash as jobless claims soared during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — aided by loosened eligibility rules and an already crumbling state unemployment system, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli charged Tuesday.

The $11 billion was lost in 2020, under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to outright fraud and overpayments, according to DiNapoli’s audit of the mess. But he warned that despite the stunning theft in the the first year of the pandemic and lockdowns, billions more in fraud is likely to be uncovered.

“There was a good intent to get as much money out the door — but the problem was that it made the system even more susceptible to fraud, particularly with regard to identity theft,” the comptroller said.

It hardly helped that the feds made changes to unemployment eligibility rules in March 2020 allowing people to self-certify their employment info amid record-high spikes in applications, according to the scathing audit.

“For example, the CARES Act allowed claimants under these temporary programs to self-certify their eligibility and wages and required states to make immediate eligibility determinations,” the audit says about legislation signed into law by then-President Donald Trump as COVID slammed New York in March 2020. --->READ MORE HERE

AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File

NY state must pull out all the stops to recover that epic $11B in illegal jobless payments:

Once again, New Yorkers are getting fleeced, this time to the tune of a whopping $11 billion (yes, you read that right) — thanks to fraudulent jobless claims during the pandemic and the state’s pathetic failure to stop them.

A report Tuesday from State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli charged that lax eligibility requirements, poor oversight and an antiquated system allowed fraudsters to get away with more than 14% of the $76.3 billion Albany paid out from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021.

The high fraud rate combined with a 3,140% spike in claim payments (thanks to COVID business closures) served as an unprecedented one-two punch. The amount lost is beyond obscene, equivalent to about 10% of all state tax revenue — and more than Haiti’s entire Gross Domestic Product.

Though those payments happened in fiscal year 2021, DiNapoli notes that state officials failed to “heed warnings” as far back as 2010 that the system to handle jobless payments “was out of date,” “difficult to maintain” and “lacked the agility” to handle new laws and “workload surges,” like during the pandemic. --->READ MORE HERE

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