Akron Family Restaurant is a small restaurant just west of downtown Akron.
Pre-COVID, the restaurant employed 44 people. Since the pandemic, owner Dean Corpas said he now has 19 employees.
But the small business has received more than 100 notifications from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services of bogus unemployment claims as part of the massive unemployment fraud hitting the state and nation.
None of the employees ever worked at the 36-year-old restaurant.
Unemployment fraud has been widespread during the pandemic, especially with programs like the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program created by the federal government to provide aid for those workers traditionally not eligible for benefits, including the self-employed and independent contractors.