A former state unemployment examiner pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to steal federal unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, federal authorities said.
Semaje Reffigee, 26, of Detroit, began working as a contract unemployment insurance examiner with the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency in October 2020, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison said in a news release.
Reffigee had electronic access to the MUIA claims database and was able to use her credentials to access and approve specific fraudulent unemployment insurance claims submitted to the agency, including claims outside her assigned work, Ison's office said.
Court documents show that shortly after Reffigee began her contract employment with MUIA, she entered into an agreement with individuals to defraud the the agency by obtaining unemployment benefits through the false claims submissions.
Federal officials say Reffigee’s co-conspirators would electronically submit fraudulent claims to MUIA in the names of different people, some of whom would be victims of identity theft and some of whom were entirely fictitious. They then made false statements in the applications and uploaded fake documentation to support the claims.
The co-conspirators would communicate with Reffigee to identify the claims and she would use her access to the MUIA system to approve the claims and release benefits, federal officials said.
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