Avoidance Never Pays Off

Fraudsters are pretty good avoiders. They generally shun earning an honest living and admitting guilt when caught. While today’s ”Fraud of the Day” is about a Nebraska man who actually did work, he lied about the fact he was working and then sidestepped admitting guilt to participating in a ruse to steal nearly $8,000 in unemployment benefits he did not deserve.

A 50-year-old man purportedly filed for unemployment benefits for 60 weeks in spite of the fact he was actually working and earning a paycheck for more than half of that time—32 weeks to be exact. (You have to give him credit for actually working, but he neglected to report that one not-so-small detail to the Nebraska Department of Labor.)

After a thorough investigation by the state agency’s Benefits Payment Control Unit, this Cornhusker pleaded no contest to unemployment fraud. (Yet another avoidance tactic. This allowed him to admit the facts in the case were true, but avoid pleading guilty.)He is facing a maximum of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine and repaying $7,840 in restitution.

Apparently the man made some restitution payments before he was arrested. (We’ll see if that helps him to avoid a stiffer sentence when he receives the details of his punishment from the judge. A better strategy for future: avoid committing fraud.)

Source: Today’s ”Fraud of the Day” is based on an article entitled, ”Man pleads no contest in unemployment fraud case,” published by the Omaha World-Herald on June 3, 2016.

It was discovered, however, that Ballard was employed during those weeks and had been earning money.

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