A number of people in Michigan, including some in Michigan’s Great Southwest, have been unfairly accused of unemployment fraud after computer issues at the state, or their identities were stolen or they were involved in some other scheme, and now the Michigan Talent Investment Agency is doing something about it for those people.
Wanda Stokes is Director of the Talent Investment Agency and she announced today that people accused of unemployment fraud between 2013 and 2015 and have questions about their cases can now call a new hotline created by the agency.
The hotline number is 800-638-6372 and is operational between the hours of 8am and 4pm. The Unemployment Insurance Agency is part of the Talent Investment Agency.
Stokes said the UIA is committed to reviewing all of the approximately 50,000 cases of potential fraud that were determined by the agency during the period of October 2013 to August 2015, including cases that were determined by a computer and those that included some staff involvement.
Stokes said today, “We want people to know there is someone who can help with questions about whether their claim has been reviewed because they deserve answers.” She adds, “People are understandably angry, and they should be. I feel horrible about this situation. I apologize that this happened and I’m making sure that this is corrected.”
The agency already has reviewed about 22,000 cases where a computer identified potential fraud in unemployment insurance claims. The agency now is reviewing about 28,000 additional cases, which were initially identified by computer as potential fraud cases and received some review by a staff member.
As some people have multiple unemployment claims, the total number of people affected is smaller than the number of cases. Together, the cases represent about 40,000 people.
Stokes said that many of the cases involve people who received benefits to which they were not entitled and that money must be recouped. But she said the agency will work to return any unjust penalties that were assessed when appropriate.
The agency expects to have the remaining 28,000 cases reviewed within six months.
Information about the process and how people can receive information about their cases will be posted on the Talent Investment Agency’s website, www.michigan.gov/tia.
