An audit has exposed that yet another blue state way overpaid thousands of citizens, including potential identity thieves, in a financial blow to the state’s already foundering budget.
With the Somali fraud scandal and the SNAP welfare scandal still making headlines, the new unemployment debacle in Maryland is just one more proof of gross mismanagement of taxpayer funds at the state level. While there is fraud in Republican states, it is particularly bad in Democrat states, because politicians there actively cover up or are complicit in fraud. In this case, with Maryland, it is not clear if dishonesty or plain stupidity is to blame, but some people billed for the overpayments might be victims of identity theft.
Fox45 Baltimore reported on the $760 million in unemployment insurance overpayments on Jan. 13, explaining that the Maryland Department of Labor (DOL) sent out thousands of letters, demanding money back for the overpayments, with some people who received them not even being on unemployment. Was this another fraud scam? All socialist programs, like unemployment, are particularly vulnerable to fraud and usually end up being gamed by criminals.
Gina Cross told Fox45 the Maryland DOL billed her for $250 in overpaid unemployment insurance, but she says she has never even applied for unemployment, let alone received payments. “I’ve been working the same place since 2018,” she protested, arguing someone stole her identity.
An audit recently uncovered millions of payments to individuals who should not have been receiving the money in question, amounting to hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars squandered. “The state did not timely pursue recovery of claimant overpayments totaling $807.4 million resulting in up to $760.7 million that is no longer collectable,” the audit determined, faulting also the Maryland Department of Unemployment Insurance (DUI) for not having procedures to conduct supervisory reviews of claims.
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State Sen. Chris West (R-42nd District) blamed the Democrat governor and his administration for not keeping the unemployment system honest, per Fox45. “It’s the people in the Moore administration who are responsible for protecting the people’s money. That’s who’s to blame,” West insisted.
It appears that the audit at least partially confirmed his accusation, describing inefficiency and faulty processes. Then again, that seems to be par for the course in any government run by Democrats.
I personally had an unknown individual take out student loans in my name early last year, and I am still trying to convince the federal government it was not I. Are fraudsters doing something similar with unemployment insurance in Maryland? It seems likely, but the question is just how many fraudsters managed to game the system? Any government program can be abused, but it appears that Maryland might have allowed something similar to Minnesota’s Somali daycare scandal to occur in the state.
At this rate, it seems as if every single day brings a new story of massive fraud in some Democrat-run state.
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