A former Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency employee has been sentenced to 18 months in prison on conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Semaje Reffigee was also ordered to pay more than 300 thousand dollars in restitution to the state of Michigan. Officials say she participated in a large-scale fraud scheme with other co-conspirators to illegally obtain pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits.
Reffigee is one of nearly 50 individuals who have been convicted of unemployment insurance crimes – Officials say more arrests are pending.
Julia Dale, the director of the UIA, says the office has been working closely with its law enforcement partners to file charges against suspects.
“We have had charges brought in more than 100 criminal cases. Built since March of 2020, and we continue to pursue bad actors. I think this sentencing is just clear evidence of our commitment to seeing bad actors brought to justice,” she said.
During the pandemic, the UIA’s software tasked with processing unemployment claims, became overwhelmed by the influx of requests, resulting in confusion, delays, and overpayments.
Since then, Dale says that they have been working to rebuild the public’s trust and confidence in the system.
“We have been focused on transforming the UIA, recognizing the need to rebuild confidence and integrity in the program and making sure that temporary financial assistance is available for those eligible workers when they need it,” she said.
Dale said the agency has implemented new ethics and security clearance policies for workers, employees, and contractors of the UIA as well as conduct internal audits of staff access to the system.
To prevent future fraud efforts from occurring, the Unemployment Agency is also working on installing a new computer system with anti-fraud processes. It’s expected to be fully operational by mid-2025.
