A state audit report found that between March 2020 and April 2021, Colorado paid out more than $73 million in unemployment claims that were likely fraudulent. That report covers just the first year of the pandemic and only the unemployment program.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser speaks during a press conference on Wednesdsay, Sept. 1, 2021. The attorney general’s office has a task force dedicated to investigating potential criminal activity in the state’s unemployment system.
“It’s not a question of whether there’s fraud. We know from experience there’s fraud,” Weiser said earlier this month. “It’s a question of how do we create the structures to detect the fraud and go after it. This is a top priority for us, to identify these fraudsters and hold them accountable.”Jason Zirkle, training director for the, expects the full scope of fraud related to COVID-19 relief programs to take years to come into focus. He is confident the total will be in the billions.
“I believe we have a responsibility to recover that money and ensure it’s spent properly,” Weiser said. Two cases handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado covered not just unemployment fraud but also PPP fraud and fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, or EIDL, from the U.S. Small Business Administration, according to the Weiser’s office. The defendants in both cases entered guilty pleas. Pending the results of a sentencing hearing in one of those cases later this month, they could result in the perpetrators being ordered to pay more than $1.
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