WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are scrambling to recoup billions of dollars in pandemic aid from people who falsely obtained funds from government programs that were intended to keep the economy
The government's top investigator was testifying to Congress when he made a startling revelation: Someone had used his identity to apply for pandemic unemployment benefits.
California Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing Unemployment Benefits Details Written by IVN
Sacramento, California - Andrea M. Gervais, 44, of Roseville, pleaded guilty Monday to theft of government money in a scheme involving 97 fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims in the names of persons other than her own, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, at least 10 of 97 fraudulent PUA claims were processed for payment, and nearly $200,000 in unemployment insurance and PUA benefits were paid out to Gervais’s Roseville address in the form of Bank of America debit cards. The potential value of all fraudulent 97 claims associated with the scheme exceeded $2 million.
From USA TODAY Network and wire reports
Alabama
Birmingham: With the state struggling to improve its last-in-the nation vaccination rate for COVID-19, officials say workers at some immunization sites are providing only a fraction of the shots they could give out. A vaccination clinic in its third week of operation in Lauderdale County has provided about 500 doses, but project manager Mike Melton told WAAY-TV the site could easily provide 500 shots a day “if the demand was there.” In metro Birmingham, where a mass vaccination site was set to open Wednesday at an outlet mall, some questioned whether the facility was even needed since so few people have shown up at an immunization site at the Birmingham Crossplex, an indoor sports facility. WBMA-TV reports it visited three vaccination locations Tuesday, and none had lines or were requiring appointments. Jefferson County’s top health official, Dr. Mark Wilson, said the county couldn’t pass up the opportunity to bring more vacci