Ohio Inspector General investigation leads to a nine-count indictment of former Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ intermittent employee

September 10, 2025, Press Release from the Ohio Inspector General:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - On September 9th, the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Francesca Figueroa-Rivera and Claudine Stavole for various criminal offenses related to fraudulent claims involving the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. These counts include Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity, Conspiracy, Theft, Telecommunications Fraud, Tampering with Government Records, Bribery, and Theft in Office. The indictment is the result of a collaborative investigation between the Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, the Office of the Ohio Inspector General, Ohio State Highway Patrol, United States Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).  

In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased unemployment of millions of Americans, Congress passed various programs to address the crisis, including the PUA program. The PUA program expanded and loosened eligibility unemployment requirements for recipients. Consequently, ODJFS, the agency responsible for distributing PUA benefits in Ohio, received an unprecedented number of unemployment compensation claims. This increase in claims necessitated ODJFS to hire intermittent and temporary contracted workers to process the claims. In fiscal year 2021, ODJFS disbursed approximately $7.6 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits and later, ODJFS identified millions of dollars of the disbursals as fraudulent.

On September 2, 2022, ODJFS referred an allegation of wrongdoing alleging that former Intermittent Customer Service Representative Francesca Figueroa-Rivera manipulated numerous PUA claims from February 2021 to January 2022, releasing previously denied PUA benefits to ineligible claimants. Investigators obtained and analyzed Figueroa-Rivera’s bank records, phone records, and her assigned State of Ohio email box to determine whether there were any connections between Figueroa-Rivera and the claimants. From their analysis of records, investigators identified 21 previously denied PUA claims Figueroa-Rivera had improperly accessed and manipulated for people she knew, fraudulently releasing in total, $519,897 in PUA benefit funds. Investigators also identified an additional 57 PUA claims that Figueroa-Rivera had improperly accessed, redetermined, and/or manipulated that had no personal connection between Figueroa-Rivera and the claimants. For these 57 claims, investigators determined Figueroa-Rivera had improperly released in total, $868,267 in PUA benefit funds.

In addition, investigators discovered numerous phone calls and electronic payments between Figueroa-Rivera and a PUA claimant named Claudine Stavole. Investigators obtained and reviewed Stavole’s bank records and discovered activity indicating a relationship between Figueroa-Rivera and Stavole. Investigators determined Figueroa-Rivera and Stavole had worked in concert to release $113,139 in previously denied PUA benefits to four claimants and to Stavole, herself. Investigators found, through Stavole’s bank records, that four claimants had paid or attempted to pay Stavole a fee via Cash App. Investigators also found that Stavole had worked with another individual, Richard Bencina, to submit seven fraudulent claims, resulting in the improper release of, in total, $103,344 in PUA benefit funds. 

The Ohio Inspector General previously referred this report of investigation to the Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and is currently referring the report to the Ohio Auditor of State. 

Ohio Inspector General Report of Investigation file number 2022-CA00023 is now available at: https://watchdog.ohio.gov/2025-investigations.