Fraud

Detecting and prosecuting cases involving unemployment fraud is a priority for Michigan’s UI program. Claims are audited regularly to ensure benefits were properly paid according to state and federal law. It is against state law to intentionally make false statements or conceal material information to gain or avoid the payment of benefits. You may have to repay up to 1.5 times the amount of benefits received. Benefits will be stopped, and any remaining benefits will be lost. You may also be subject to criminal prosecution. If prosecuted, you may be required to pay court costs and fines, face jail time, perform community service or any combination of these.

Some examples of intentional misrepresentation (fraud)include:

• You find a part-time job and begin working while still collecting benefits but do not report your gross earnings.
• You are employed full time and do not report it to UIA.
• You provided false information about your work search efforts.
• You were ill or injured or on vacation and did not report that you were unable or unavailable to work.
• You did not report other types of pay to UIA such as vacation, holiday or severance pay.
• You had someone else complete your bi-weekly certifications.
• You had someone else file your claim.

UIA can review a payment up to three years after it has been determined that the payment was the result of fraud. It is important to keep your address up-to-date with UIA, so we can contact you to resolve the issue if there is a question about your payment.