On Jan. 17, the Arizona Department of Economic Security reported 17,993 unemployment insurance initial claims or first-time claims the next week, the state reported 48,361 initial claims. Two weeks later, the state reported 79,598 initial claims as businesses and employees across the Valley began to report unemployment fraud.
Businesses and employees in the East Valley were experiencing the same problem employers had received correspondence from the DES that their employees and in some cases, people that had never worked for the company had filed for unemployment insurance. In the case of the Chandler Chamber of Commerce, President and CEO Terri Kimble said she not only got notice for her employees but for two other people who had never been employed with the chamber.