Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 23, 2021. Load Error Editorial: Widespread 2020 fraud in Ohio jobless claims highlights need for accountability, reforms The acting head of Ohio’s unemployment compensation program said Monday that the state had paid out more than $2.1 billion in mistaken or fraudulent benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. That eye-popping revelation, by Matthew Damschroder, acting director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, was troubling enough. But it came on top of recent allegations by Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, in a cleveland.com interview, that ODJFS under prior leadership repeatedly misled his office, from last May to December, about the extent of jobless claim fraud and was slow to institute additional anti-fraud measures. Faber, whose own identity was stolen for jobless-claim fraud, acknowledged in the interview with Jeremy Pelzer that, at the time, ODJFS was overwhelmed by jobless claims and had prioritized getting checks mailed out. Yet…
Continue Reading: Editorial Roundup: Ohio
