Report unemployment benefit fraud

As the state works to balance its budget in Olympia, people continue to fraud the government by illegally applying for and accepting unemployment insurance benefits.

Unemployment benefits are meant to help people seeking work and not fund vacations on the government's dime. While workers do pay into the system, the state must pay employees to administer the program. And there's only so much money to go around because extensions of benefits aren't an automatic guarantee.

Just this week, Fox News reported more than 1,000 Pennsylvania inmates illegally received $334 per week for more than four months in benefits. Pennsylvania taxpayers will end up paying about $7 million in this case.

In Washington state, Employment Security's Office of Special Investigations found more than 9,000 people fraudulently received more than $21.5 million in 2011, according to the last available figures.

In 2012, the US Attorney's Office in Seattle prosecuted unemployment fraud cases ranging from $14,000 per person to more than $78,000 per person, according to the agency's website. One woman allegedly collected benefits while she was working, a man obtained benefits under two Social Security numbers, and a woman received benefits using the Social Security number of her jailed boyfriend.

In 2011, the state Department of Employment Security shared a story of a Washington woman who received benefits during the week of her wedding in Texas. She claimed she sought work by visiting a movie theater to ask about a job on her way to church. She had to repay $1,400 in benefits.

"Unemployment benefits are not meant to be a paid vacation," Employment Security Commissioner Paul Trause said. "If you are not making a legitimate attempt to get back to work, there's a good chance we're going to find out and make you return the benefits."

Illegally collecting benefits hurts the state and other taxpayers.

Cheats risk up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and having to repay what they stole.

Common ways people have wrongly collected benefits include failing to seek work, not reporting income and collecting benefits after returning to work.

To report fraud, visit the state's website at www.esd.wa.gov/uibenefits/communication/fraud/report-fraud.php or call 866-266-1987.

- Editorial Board