Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and several of those who work for him were targets of an unemployment fraud scheme in their names, he said Wednesday.
The foiled scheme is the second large-scale scheme uncovered since Election Day, when Maryland announced that its monitoring system detected “illegitimate traffic and blocked fraudsters attempting to file tens of thousands of new claims on the website using real Social Security Numbers and addresses.”
A third scheme was announced in July, a “sophisticated enterprise involving more than 47,500 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims in Maryland and totaling over $501 million.”
“I was recently informed that I, along with Lt. Gov @BoydKRutherford and several members of my cabinet, had been the target of an unemployment insurance fraud scheme,” Hogan wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “The fraudulent claims were immediately blocked, and a comprehensive investigation is underway.”
THREAD: I was recently informed that I, along with Lt. Gov @BoydKRutherford and several members of my cabinet, had been the target of an unemployment insurance fraud scheme. The fraudulent claims were immediately blocked, and a comprehensive investigation is underway.
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) December 9, 2020
To date, more than 85% of the 115,000 claims that have been flagged as potentially fraudulent were confirmed to be fraud.
“We have been more aggressive than any state in going after the rampant fraud that is targeting unemployment insurance systems nationwide,” Hogan said in a statement. “The vast majority of claims we have flagged have been confirmed as fraudulent, saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. This is another example of how this kind of fraud can happen to anyone, and we need to remain vigilant.”
Between March 9 and Nov. 28, Maryland paid more than $8.2 billion in state and federal unemployment insurance.
An investigation in coordination with the Maryland State Police and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General is underway.
“This latest fraud scheme only reinforces the need to maintain the heightened security measures in place to protect Marylanders and the integrity of the state’s program,” said Maryland Secretary of Labor Tiffany Robinson. “We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure that all of these criminals are brought to justice.”
