Apr 14, 2021 | STATESCOOP
The amount of fraudulent unemployment insurance claims paid out by the State of Washington last year was likely far higher than the $647 million identified by state officials, and possibly as great as $1.1 billion, according to reports published Tuesday by the state auditor’s office.
In a set of four reports on the state Employment Security Division, auditors laid out a detailed accounting of the rampant fraud that afflicted Washington’s unemployment services — a phenomenon seen nationally — as the COVID-19 pandemic exploded and caused record-braking claims as businesses were forced to close.
One of the reports states that even before the pandemic, the ESD “lacked a robust anti-fraud unit,” a situation that was exacerbated by the high volume of claims and “looser requirements” around the federal programs that were created to support people put out of work because of the coronavirus.