The State of Illinois knowingly put taxpayer dollars into fraudsters' accounts – leaving those owed unemployment benefits struggling and, a year later, many still waiting on the money they're owed.
Thomas believed IDES stopped the fraud when she first reported it last May. Four months later, after speaking to agency representatives, she thought her issue had been resolved. Eventually, she got a call back from another representative. Instead of getting the money she was owed back, she was told that check was released - but not to her.Thomas said she mailed in her tracer forms in October of 2021. By December, an IDES representative told her the agency couldn't find them.
At the time, the IDES spokesperson and a FOIA officer repeatedly claimed the agency did not track the data and refused to provide redacted copies of the tracer forms, saying it would be burdensome to do so. As a result, on March 31 IDES was forced to send the data to CBS 2. It contains information on more than 1,000 tracers that were filed by claimants from January 2021 through March of this year. That's more than 1,000 times IDES paid people back, after they reported they never received their benefits.
Thomas is one of the claimants still waiting for a resolution. In a recent interview with CBS 2 -- a full year since her benefits were stolen -- she has contacted IDES multiple times. While she has not received her money, she said an IDES representative told her she could be paid in the next few months. She's not alone. Shonda Perkins is waiting on more than $800 after she said her unemployment benefits were intercepted by a fraudster.