PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

Mykia King of Southfield was sentenced Wednesday to 34 months in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft arising out of a pandemic-related unemployment insurance fraud scheme.

A Novi man used the identities of several prison inmates to file fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims and stole more than $300,000 in the process, federal officials said.

Extended unemployment benefits for Michigan residents will no longer be available after this week because the state’s unemployment rate dropped below the required threshold.

Some Michigan residents who were previously eligible will no longer receive additional weeks of unemployment benefits, the state revealed. Michigan is no longer in a high unemployment period, so claimants receiving extended benefits and pandemic unemployment assistance will not longer receive them for extra weeks, according to state officials. Under federal law, a state in a high unemployment period receives seven additional weeks of PUA and EB benefits. Since Michigan is no longer in a high unemployment period, those seven extra weeks will not be paid, according to officials. AdFor residents receiving extra benefits who have already been paid for the maximum number of weeks, their claim is considered exhausted, and there are no more weeks of extra benefits available, state officials said.

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan residents who had PUA and PEUC claims that ended in December can now reopen, certify or apply for benefits, state unemployment officials said. Officials with the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency said they have completed system updates for the recently extended federal unemployment insurance programs. All remaining Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation claimants whose claims ended when CARES Act programs were interrupted in December can now either reopen, certify or apply for benefits available under the Continued Assistance Act, according to the state. A new provision under the CAA requires PUA claimants to submit proof of employment or self-employment to maintain eligibility. Workers on regular state UI benefits will no longer receive the PEUC extension automatically.

The additional $300 weekly unemployment payments for residents who qualify for COVID-19 relief will be delayed in Michigan, officials said. Congress passed a COVID-19 relief package that extends the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation federal unemployment programs. “This federal extension will bring much needed relief to nearly 700,000 Michigan workers who are currently receiving benefits under the PUA and PEUC programs,” said Liza Estlund Olson, acting director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency. “We will have to make updates to our systems to extend benefits and renew the FPUC $300 supplemental payments,” the release says. Year-end tax statements for anyone who received unemployment benefits in 2020 will be available online in mid-January.