PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Nine people are accused of stealing close to $1 million of unemployment money in Pennsylvania.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the group of people filed 145 false applications for more than $925,000 worth of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance funds — nearly half of which was paid out to the defendants.
Investigators say several of them claimed to have worked for the same trucking company and that their unemployment had been cut off.
Related
“This program was designed to help people get back on their feet after the severe disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Shapiro said in a statement. “These defendants instead targeted Pennsylvania’s program to rip off our residents and took advantage of the public health emergency to cash in.”
Five of the defendants, who are from outside Pennsylvania, have already been charged. One is from Newark, Delaware, three from South Jersey, and another from Georgia.
Shapiro’s office said three more people are expected to be charged within the next week, and one remains at large.
