Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Thai Fighter Jet Bombs Cambodian Targets as Border Battle Escalates

22 hours ago

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

23 hours ago

Wrestling Legend Hulk Hogan Dies at 71, TMZ Reports

1 day ago

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

1 day ago

Meme Stock Surge Underlines Market Froth, Mostly Centered on Retail Investors

1 day ago

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

1 day ago

California Releases Teacher Data. It Shows Big Rise in Hispanic Teachers

1 day ago

Biting a Bat and 5 Other Wild Moments From Ozzy Osbourne’s Life

1 day ago

Henry Thompson Did Wonders for Fresno Airport, Leaves ‘Incredibly Big Shoes to Fill’

2 days ago
Audit: California Jobless Agency's Inaction Led to Fraud
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
January 28, 2021

Share

SACRAMENTO — California’s unemployment agency was warned early in the pandemic about an increase in fraudulent jobless claims yet waited four months before it made any substantive changes to its systems, according to a new audit released Thursday that blames Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration for “significant missteps and inaction” that cost taxpayers at least $10.4 billion.

California State Auditor Elaine Howle said the amount of fraudulent payments is likely far higher. The agency itself this week said it’s investigating another $20 billion in payments for possible fraud.

Still, officials at the Employment Development Department told investigators they believed its fraud tools “effectively identified and stopped potentially fraudulent claims.” But Howle found the state “paid almost as much to suspicious claims as it prevented.”

Newsom and agency officials have consistently blamed the fraud problems on a federal expansion of unemployment benefits whose broad eligibility requirements made it an easy target for fraud. New Employment Development Department director Rita Saenz repeated those claims in a letter responding to the audit, saying former President Donald Trump’s administration “provided insufficient support to states to address the aggressive attacks by domestic and international criminal syndicates.”

But Howle found the department delayed implementing critical safeguards for months while at the same time suspending some of the few tools it did have to detect and prevent fraud because top agency officials did not understand how they worked.

“It is almost certain that because of its lax approach, EDD missed stopping payment on fraudulent claims during the pandemic,” Howle wrote, adding the agency “does not acknowledge earlier warnings about potential fraud and its own failure to respond quickly to those warnings.”

Republican Assemblyman Jim Patterson said the audit “rightfully demonstrated what a disaster EDD has been with respect to fraud.” And said he worried the state Legislature, which is dominated by Democrats, won’t do enough to hold the Democratic governor accountable.

“You get very close to politically covering up the responsibility of the governor,” he said.

Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting said that “it’s not really about who to blame.”

“People don’t care about blame, people care about getting their money. And that’s what we are focused on. We’re working with the governor, who is working with EDD,” he said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

US Clears Way for $8 Billion Paramount-Skydance Merger

DON'T MISS

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

DON'T MISS

Trump Says US May Not Have a Negotiated Trade Deal With Canada

DON'T MISS

Netanyahu, Trump Appear to Abandon Gaza Ceasefire Negotiations With Hamas

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Julian Jay Haymon

DON'T MISS

Trump Says There Is a 50-50 Chance of Trade Deal With EU

DON'T MISS

Amid Epstein Furor, Ghislaine Maxwell Seeks Relief From US Supreme Court

DON'T MISS

Tater Is One Hot Potato When It Comes to Adoptable Kittens

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk’s Starlink Network Suffers Rare Global Outage. Orders Some Ukraine Services to Halt

DON'T MISS

The Entz Era Begins at Fresno State With QB Job Up for Grabs

UP NEXT

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

UP NEXT

Video-Sharing App Vine Is Returning ‘in AI Form’, Musk Says

UP NEXT

CBS News Taps Tanya Simon as New Boss of ’60 Minutes’ After Trump Lawsuit

UP NEXT

US Republicans Continue Push to Override California Animal Welfare Law

UP NEXT

Doctor Pleads Guilty to Supplying Ketamine to ‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry

UP NEXT

US Olympic Officials Bar Transgender Women From Women’s Competitions

UP NEXT

Trump Admin Releases After-School Grant Money, but There’s a Catch

UP NEXT

US Appeals Court Will Not Lift Limits on Associated Press Access to White House

UP NEXT

NPR’s Top Editor Edith Chapin to Step Down

UP NEXT

Less Than 400 EV Charging Ports Built Under $7.5 Billion US Infrastructure Program

Netanyahu, Trump Appear to Abandon Gaza Ceasefire Negotiations With Hamas

53 minutes ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Julian Jay Haymon

1 hour ago

Trump Says There Is a 50-50 Chance of Trade Deal With EU

1 hour ago

Amid Epstein Furor, Ghislaine Maxwell Seeks Relief From US Supreme Court

1 hour ago

Tater Is One Hot Potato When It Comes to Adoptable Kittens

1 hour ago

Elon Musk’s Starlink Network Suffers Rare Global Outage. Orders Some Ukraine Services to Halt

2 hours ago

The Entz Era Begins at Fresno State With QB Job Up for Grabs

16 hours ago

Hoover High Coach Arrested on Child Porn Charges, Released on Bail

16 hours ago

Hulk Hogan Is Gone, but Hulkamania Rolls On in Fresno and Around the Globe

16 hours ago

Fresno Brewery Teams With Japanese Sister City on Rice Lager Release

18 hours ago

US Clears Way for $8 Billion Paramount-Skydance Merger

The $8.4 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media won approval from U.S. regulators on Thursday, clearing the way for a sa...

25 minutes ago

Paramount Global logo is seen in this illustration taken December 17, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
25 minutes ago

US Clears Way for $8 Billion Paramount-Skydance Merger

A Thailand's mobile artillery unit fires towards Cambodia's side after Thailand and Cambodia exchanged heavy artillery on Friday as their worst fighting in more than a decade stretched for a second day, in Surin, Thailand, July 25, 2025. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
28 minutes ago

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

A 3D-printed miniature model of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Canada flag and the word "Tariffs" are seen in this illustration taken July 23, 2025. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
33 minutes ago

Trump Says US May Not Have a Negotiated Trade Deal With Canada

A Palestinian holds a cat as he inspects houses destroyed during an Israeli military operation, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, July 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
53 minutes ago

Netanyahu, Trump Appear to Abandon Gaza Ceasefire Negotiations With Hamas

Julian Jay Haymon is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for July 25, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
1 hour ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Julian Jay Haymon

Containers wait for shipment at a terminal, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1, south of Berlin, Germany, July 14, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Trump Says There Is a 50-50 Chance of Trade Deal With EU

Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell sits at the defense table as juror number 50 answers questions from Judge Alison Nathan about his answers on the juror questionaire in a courtroom sketch in New York City, U.S., March 8, 2022. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Amid Epstein Furor, Ghislaine Maxwell Seeks Relief From US Supreme Court

Tater Is GV Wire's Adoptable Pet of the Week, July 25, 2025
1 hour ago

Tater Is One Hot Potato When It Comes to Adoptable Kittens

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend