{"id":561944,"date":"2021-06-12T12:21:31","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T16:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=561944"},"modified":"2021-06-12T12:21:34","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T16:21:34","slug":"half-of-pandemic-unemployment-money-from-past-year-stolen-bulk-of-it-in-foreign-hands-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/half-of-pandemic-unemployment-money-from-past-year-stolen-bulk-of-it-in-foreign-hands-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Half Of Pandemic Unemployment Money From Past Year Stolen,  \u2018Bulk\u2019 Of It In Foreign Hands:\u00a0Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhalf-of-pandemic-unemployment-money-from-past-year-stolen-bulk-of-it-in-foreign-hands-report%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=561944&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1222040206-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>A stunning $400 billion in unemployment claims were likely stolen via fraud over the past year \u2014 and a \u201cbulk\u201d of that money has come from crime syndicates in places like China, Russia, and Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCriminals may have stolen as much as half of the unemployment benefits the U.S. has been pumping out over the past year,\u201d Axios <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/pandemic-unemployment-fraud-benefits-stolen-a937ad9d-0973-4aad-814f-4ca47b72f67f.html\">reported<\/a> Friday. \u201cUnemployment fraud during the pandemic could easily reach $400 billion, according to some estimates, and the bulk of the money likely ended in the hands of foreign crime syndicates \u2014 making this not just theft, but a matter of national security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When state and national leaders encouraged or mandated lockdown measures, disallowing millions of Americans from working, unemployment claims skyrocketed. States were unequipped to handle the influx in a timely manner, choosing to get out the money as quickly as possible with the expectation that some fraud would slip through.<\/p>\n<p>But the fraud wasn\u2019t just from Americans \u2014 an estimated 70% of the fraud likely came from foreign criminal syndicates,\u00a0CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions Haywood Talcove told Axios:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"10\">\n<p><em>\u201c[Talcove]\u00a0estimates that at least 70% of the money stolen by impostors ultimately left the country, much of it ending up in the hands of criminal syndicates in China, Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThese groups are definitely backed by the state,\u201d the CEO said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMuch of the rest of the money was stolen by street gangs domestically, who have made up a greater share of the fraudsters in recent months,\u201d Axios noted.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration responded to the report, seemingly blaming the state level \u201cwidespread fraud\u201d on the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWidespread fraud at the state level in pandemic unemployment insurance during the previous Administration is one of the most serious challenges we inherited,\u201d said White House economist Gene Sperling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Biden has been clear that this type of activity from criminal syndicates is despicable and unacceptable,\u201d Sperling added. \u201cIt is why we passed $2 billion for UI modernizations in the American Rescue Plan, instituted a Department of Justice Anti-Fraud Task Force and an all-of-government Identity Theft and Public Benefits Initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Florida, where lockdown measures were limited and brief,\u00a0Republican Governor Ron DeSantis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/gov-desantis-tells-unemployed-floridians-collecting-benefits-to-start-looking-for-a-job\">informed<\/a> unemployed residents last month that May would be their last month to collect unemployment benefits without proving they are looking for work.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Floridians collecting state unemployment benefits must prove they are actively looking for work by submitting at least five job applications per week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/floridians-collecting-unemployment-must-prove-they-are-applying-for-jobs-5-times-per-week\">The Daily Wire<\/a> reported June 2:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"33.813357731016\">\n<p><em>The policy, which began Tuesday, requires anyone receiving unemployment to submit at least five applications per week and register with local career centers, according to local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/floridians-now-required-to-submit-at-least-five-job-applications-per-week-to-receive-unemployment-benefits\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fox 13<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The change comes as the state\u2019s\u00a0hospitality industry is facing a shortage of workers, which has led many restaurants to reduce hours.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank Sierra, the general manager of a Florida restaurant, approved of the new rules, telling Fox 13: \u201cI think it\u2019s going to put a lot more people to work. It\u2019ll obviously fill some of those positions that are in demand. Business six months ago wasn\u2019t really demanding, so if you had somewhat of a shorter staff, you were able to get by, and everything was fine, but I think this might boost people as business picks up. I think it\u2019ll help people out with more applicants.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been more challenging than normal, you know, in a typical, normal setting for hiring whenever you put a job posting out you almost always have an overwhelming amount of applicants. Lately, we\u2019ve been putting some ads out getting a hit here or there,\u201d Sierra said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Axios noted that states across the nation \u201care now getting more sophisticated about preventing\u201d the rife unemployment fraud they\u2019ve suffered, \u201cBut it\u2019s far too late.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/floridians-collecting-unemployment-must-prove-they-are-applying-for-jobs-5-times-per-week\">Floridians Collecting Unemployment Must Prove They Are Applying For Jobs 5 Times Per\u00a0Week<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><i>member<\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A stunning $400 billion in unemployment claims were likely stolen via fraud over the past year \u2014 and a \u201cbulk\u201d of that money has come from crime syndicates in places &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2280107,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1222040206-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Half Of Pandemic Unemployment Money From Past Year Stolen,  \u2018Bulk\u2019 Of It In Foreign Hands:\u00a0Report","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-561944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1222040206-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Half Of Pandemic Unemployment Money From Past Year Stolen,  \u2018Bulk\u2019 Of It In Foreign Hands:\u00a0Report","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2280107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}