Labor Department watchdog flags more than $900M in unused COVID-era benefits, demands ‘immediate’ return to taxpayers

Source: New York Post

WASHINGTON — Nearly $1 billion of COVID-19-era unemployment benefits is sitting unused and ripe for fraud, the Labor Department’s official watchdog has warned. The department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that some $720 million in unemployment insurance benefits are sitting on prepaid debit cards, while another $192 million has been moved to state unclaimed property offices. “My office has warned that, absent swift action, US taxpayers risk losing nearly a billion dollars in fraudulently obtained benefits,” Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said in a statement last week.