When US lawmakers appropriated billions of dollars for extra jobless benefits at the onset of the pandemic, they likely didn’t envisage that one of their own members — who even co-sponsored legislation to crack down on unemployment fraud — would end up being charged with scamming the program.
(Bloomberg) — When US lawmakers appropriated billions of dollars for extra jobless benefits at the onset of the pandemic, they likely didn’t envisage that one of their own members — who even co-sponsored legislation to crack down on unemployment fraud — would end up being charged with scamming the program.
George Santos, the embattled Republican congressman from New York who lied extensively about his background, falsely claimed that he was eligible for jobless benefits for about a year at the start of the pandemic, according to an indictment from US prosecutors unsealed Wednesday.
He was not in Congress at the time.
From March 22, 2020 to April 15, 2021, Santos allegedly received $24,744 in unemployment insurance benefits from the New York State Department of Labor. During that period, he was a regional director at an investment firm earning around $120,000 a year, according to the indictment, which charged Santos with fraud and money laundering.
After winning election last year, Santos co-sponsored the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act.
Among other things, it would allow states to keep 25% of any over-paid benefits that they recover, and extend the statute of limitations for unemployment fraud to 10 years.
Read more: GOP Rep. George Santos Charged With Fraud, Money Laundering
Millions of Americans applied for unemployment benefits after Covid-19 shut down swaths of the economy.
The unprecedented surge in claims led to widespread system failures, as understaffed government offices using outdated technology struggled to cope. Many people who were thrown out of work by Covid suffered weeks-long delays before getting their checks, and many more couldn’t access the benefits at all.
Meanwhile, fraud was rampant.
The most recent report by government watchdogs found that roughly 20% of jobless benefits in 2021 and 2022 were improperly paid, well above the historical average.
Read more: Claim of $400 Billion in Fraud Was a Big One, and Good for ID.me
Santos was elected to office last year on the strength of a resume of Wall Street accomplishments that turned out to be almost entirely made up.
A copy of the resume published earlier this year by the New York Times showed Santos said he was a vice president at LinkBridge Investors at the time he claimed unemployment benefits.
As the Santos indictment was being unsealed early Wednesday, the anti-fraud legislation that he co-sponsored was getting approved by the Rules Committee of the House of Representatives.
The courtroom drama won’t slow down a House vote on the bill, said representative Elise Stefanik, who like Santos is a New York Republican.
“He’s going to have to face the charges he has,” she said.
“The legal process is going to play itself out.”
–With assistance from Reade Pickert, Gregory Korte and Erik Wasson.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
