Federal officials reviewing MN Unemployment Insurance Program for potential fraud

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that it will review Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program after widespread fraud was found in other benefits programs.

The department said it will be using an “onsite specialized UI strike team” to review the UI program.

In a letter to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, the federal agency requested “critical documents” be provided to the strike team.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to DEED for more information and got the following reply:

“As evidenced by the US Department of Labor’s own data, Minnesota Unemployment Insurance (UI) routinely exceeds USDOL’s metrics for payment accuracy and has a fraud rate well below the national average. Unemployment Insurance is a federal/state partnership. The UI program in Minnesota, like the UI programs in all other states, periodically engages in in-depth reviews as a normal part of oversight performed by USDOL. We welcome the opportunity to illustrate the strength of our payment controls and oversight.“

The announcement continues the recent trend of federal agencies looking into fraud allegations in Minnesota, something the House, U.S. Small Business Administration, Homeland Security and the Treasury Department have done in the past month.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS continues to track all of the ongoing fraud investigations in Minnesota. See all of our coverage at the link below.

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