A Toledo man was found guilty on February 3 of Unemployment Compensation theft the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced. Charges had been filed by ODJFS, which administers the Unemployment Compensation program in Ohio.

An investigation by ODJFS revealed Michael E. Morris, 47, filed claims for Unemployment Compensation while he was employed at Adecco Services and intentionally failed to report the income while collecting benefits. The court found that Morris was employed when he received $6,100 for 26 weeks in June, 2001 through December, 2001.

Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles S. Wittenberg sentenced Morris to three years community control. He then placed Morris on three years probation and ordered him to perform 50 hours of community service. The judge also ordered Morris to make full restitution to the state of Ohio and to maintain verifiable employment.

Unemployment Compensation is payable to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own and meet other eligibility criteria. Wages earned while drawing Unemployment Compensation must be reported by claimants so that benefits can be reduced or disallowed during any week of employment.

ODJFS identified Morris through a routine computer cross-match of employer payroll records with those of Unemployment Compensation benefit recipients to detect the overpayments. In 2002, ODJFS identified $13.8 million in overpayments. Fraudulent overpayments accounted for about $11.3 million of that amount and $2.5 million account for non-fraudulent overpayments. Criminal convictions were obtained in more than 230 of the most flagrant cases in 2002. ODJFS aggressively pursues repayment of fraud cases and imposes other administrative penalties.

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For more information contact ODJFS Communications, 614-466-6650.