Georgia Department of Labor returns $105.1M in unremitted funds to the state | Georgia

(The Center Square) — Following an interior audit, the Georgia Department of Labor has returned greater than $105.1 million in unremitted funds to the state treasury.

Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson licensed the switch of the funds to the Georgia Department of Treasury on Aug. 3. Officials mentioned the funds started amassing in fiscal 2014 beneath the earlier hard work commissioner.

An announcement from the hard work division indicated the company came upon the funds as section of an investigation into “fraud and unemployment insurance system vulnerabilities.”

“With the new commissioner, there’s going to be some changes in there,” Lt. Governor Burt Jones informed The Center Square when requested about the discovering. “…Bruce is a good man; he’s a good business guy, and if there were some accounting issues over there, then he’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Thompson is predicted to deal with the news later this week. It marks the newest bit of unhealthy exposure for the state company.

In June, the hard work division suspended its Employer-Filed (Partial) Claims System however was once obscure on sharing extra main points. At the time, a spokeswoman for the company informed The Center Square the transfer was once “a proactive measure to safeguard our systems against future fraud.”

Last week, officers mentioned a Fulton County grand jury indicted 8 former state staff on unemployment insurance coverage fraud fees.

Prosecutors say the 8 submitted false claims and weekly certifications to the Georgia Department of Labor throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to obtain unemployment insurance coverage advantages when hired through the state. According to the State of Georgia Office of the Inspector General, the 8 received $170,931 in unemployment insurance coverage advantages and federal dietary supplements.

Separately, in November, the feds introduced fees towards 8 other folks for conspiring to defraud the Georgia DOL out of tens of tens of millions of greenbacks in federal funds for unemployment advantages. At the time, knowledgeable informed The Center Square that the federal fees uncovered the possible vulnerability of the state’s techniques.