Ohio is seeing a big increase in new unemployment claims and they believe fraud could be the reason why.
For the week ending on February 6th, there were over 140 thousand new claims for unemployment benefits filed according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. That was three times the number that was filed in each of the three prior weeks and the highest number since April 11th when 158,000 new claims were filed. Job and Family Services flagged many of the claims as suspected fraud. Investigating each claim will take time, and could delay some claims to people who really need the money. But Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted says that since Ohio is dealing with taxpayers' money, the state wants to make sure only people who are owed the money get it.
We have the obligation to flag them and make sure they are legitimate before we pay them out,” says Lt. Gov. Jon Husted(R) Ohio. “The team also recognized that there are a lot of people who are struggling, who need this money. And they will get, if you have a legitimate claim, you will get every penny that you are eligible for and that reassurance is important to know.”
Governor Mike DeWine announced a couple of weeks ago, a partnership between the private sector and the state to find ways to improve Ohio’s unemployment system. Many of the people that they have been working with are from the banking and insurance sector and are used to dealing with fraud in their industries.
