Representatives from EDD and Bank of America addressed a State Assembly hearing to shed light on the scope of fraud within California s unemployment program.
Assembly Bill 74: From Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego). Provides claimants with the option to receive their unemployment payments (as well as disability and paid family leave) via direct deposit. Currently, California is only one of three states that do not provide direct deposit; instead, the state is contracted with Bank of America to send payments to a debit card. However, complaints have mounted that Bank of America has failed to protect its cardholders, leaving them vulnerable to fraud, and to having their accounts frozen by the bank if they detect suspicious activity leaving cardholders without access to their funds as they try to navigate the bank s appeals process.
EDD problems persist as class action lawsuit filed against Bank of America
KABC
Share: It s very frustrating because a lot of people could get into people s accounts, says Koning.
He is also dealing with serious health issues. I was born with just half a heart in my body and I was dead for six minutes and came back to life four times, said Koning who posted his story on YouTube. He says he needs that money returned for another surgery. I don t know what to do right now, he said.
He s not alone.
The Employment Development Department has millions of claims on hold. There was also a lockdown of accounts due to fraud. Now a class action lawsuit has been filed against Bank of America.