TOPEKA, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) - A small percentage of funds stolen from Kansas’ unemployment system during the pandemic have been recovered, the state labor secretary says, but time is running out to find the rest.
The Kansas Department of Labor processed hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of which came from state funds.
Amber Shultz, the state labor secretary, called it an “extremely stressful and unfortunate part of our agency’s history.”
She told legislators at a Jun. 10 hearing that the state has recovered about 2.4% of fraudulent funds, or $11 million.
“The state labor department processed about $460 million in fraudulent payments during the pandemic,” said Derek Helms, a department spokesman. “An initial 2021 audit put the number at $700 million in processed fraudulent claims, which was deemed incorrect when the department refined the numbers,” Helms said.
Of the $460 million lost, $292 million were from state funding, and the remaining $168 million were federal funds, he said.
The bonus of recovering lost funds has fallen on banks and law enforcement. The labor department works with them but there are limits to its investigating power.
“The department can only prepare and recommend cases for prosecution,” Helms said. “Once we do that, we’re out of the mix.”
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