Attorney General Todd Rokita today thanked one of his own, Deputy Attorney General John Millikan, for his work recouping more than $3.3 million in funds taken fraudulently from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD).
Millikan has targeted funds deposited into bank accounts by scammers who collected unemployment benefits using other people’s identities through information gathered from the dark web. Such criminal activity soared during the COVID-19 pandemic as DWD faced pressure to push payments out quickly to newly jobless individuals.
The Rokita administration has recovered more than $242 million for Hoosiers since January 2021.
“This office is full of staff serving with servants’ hearts on behalf of Hoosiers to protect their liberty and property,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Typically, the fruits of their labors, though important, go unheralded because they occur outside the limelight. But I am always honored to gratefully recognize, on behalf of all Hoosiers, these diligent public servants.”
Investigators found that fraudsters often funneled their ill-gotten gains to either the same bank account or several set up around the country within the same bank. One such bank, Green Dot Bank, held approximately $3.15 million dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits.
DWD staff provided important guidance throughout the efforts to claw back the money, Millikan said.
“With the help and dedication of the Department of Workforce Development, we were able to identify and recover large-scale unemployment benefits-related fraud,” Millikan explained. “I am grateful for the good-faith negotiations from Green Dot Bank and other financial institutions that brought about this great result for Hoosier taxpayers. The Rokita administration will continue to investigate and assist in clawing back unemployment funds paid out due to fraud.”
If you learn that your identity has been fraudulently used in a claim for unemployment benefits, you should report it to the Office of the Attorney General via this online form for reporting identity theft.
Additionally, you should report it to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development via that agency’s website. Finally, you should also file a report with local law enforcement and the Indiana State Police, which offers an online form that can be filled out and emailed to uifraud@isp.IN.gov.
