MARYLAND (WBFF) — Thousands of Maryland residents have received letters from the Maryland Department of Labor demanding repayment of unemployment insurance overpayments.
Gina Cross received a letter demanding $250; however, Cross insists she’s never applied for unemployment benefits.
“I’ve been working the same place since 2018,” Cross, who believes she’s a victim of identity theft, said.
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A recent state audit revealed that over the past five years, Maryland has issued millions in overpayments to individuals who should not have received them. The audit stated, “The state did not timely pursue recovery of claimant overpayments totaling $807.4 million resulting in up to $760.7 million that is no longer collectable.” It also noted that the Department of Unemployment Insurance (DUI) lacked procedures for supervisory reviews of claims, potentially allowing fraudulent activity to go undetected.
The audit findings left State Sen. Chris West fuming.
“I find myself utterly appalled by the whole thing,” he said.
West said the Moore administration is squarely to blame.
“It’s the people in the Moore administration who are responsible for protecting the people’s money. That’s who’s to blame,” West insisted.
In response, Maryland Labor Secretary Portia Wu attributed the issue to decisions made by the prior administration.
Wu wrote, “Based on the prior Administration’s decisions, there were several pauses in DUI overpayment collections during the pandemic.”
She added that limited staffing and resources necessitated a focus on claims processing, leading to the suspension of supervisory reviews.
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“This is just the last of a series of audits…one after another…which have shown that this administration is not keeping its eye on the ball. The basic thing you have to do is safeguard the public risk and if you can’t do that what are you doing?” West asked.
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