Michigan investigating if new hires are stealing from Unemployment Insurance Agency

Staggering number of residents still waiting for benefits

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan officials are investigating whether some recently-hired employees are stealing from the Unemployment Insurance Agency.

READ: Michigan unemployment officials reveal staggering number of residents still waiting for benefits

The employees are accused of stealing, scamming the system from the inside. A task force was set up a few weeks ago to look at the internal issues and an investigation is moving forward.

READ: Task force cracking down on unemployment fraud in Michigan

“We made the hard decision to temporarily stop payment to accounts while we work with law enforcement and fraud experts to take additional steps to verify identities,” Steve Gray with Michigan Unemployment said.

Recently hired employees are accused of creating accounts of charging users to help get them their benefits sooner.

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About the Authors:

Hank Winchester is Local 4’s Consumer Investigative Reporter and the head of WDIV’s “Help Me Hank” Consumer Unit. Hank works to solve consumer complaints, reveal important recalls and track down thieves who have ripped off people in our community.

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.