De acuerdo a la página web de la oficina a cargo de la investigación se pudo demostrar que los individuos acusados conspiraron para obtener ilegalmente fondos de la Asistencia de Desempleo por la Pandemia (PUA) por más de 300.000 dólares mientras estaban empleados en la ciudad de Filadelfia.

“Estas detenciones son un importante recordatorio de que solicitar falsamente las prestaciones de desempleo es un delito grave. Estos individuos se llevaron el dinero de los contribuyentes, y lucharemos para que se devuelvan esos fondos. Felicito a la ciudad de Filadelfia por investigar este fraude, y animo a otros a hacer lo mismo”, dijo el fiscal general Josh Shapiro.

Los agentes de la Oficina del Fiscal General alegan que los empleados acusados solicitaron fraudulentamente beneficios de la PUA durante febrero y septiembre de 2020 alegando en sus solicitudes que su empleo terminó debido a la pandemia de COVID-19.

AG Shapiro Charges Eight City of Philadelphia Employees For Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Fraud. Read the full release here ⤵️https://t.co/VOTqfpiPS6

— City of Philadelphia Inspector General (@PhillyOIG) June 16, 2022

Tras una investigación más profunda, los fiscales alegan que todos estos individuos estaban empleados por la Ciudad de Filadelfia durante el tiempo en que solicitaron estos beneficios, y determinaron que cada individuo recibió entre aproximadamente $20,000 y $60,000 en beneficios de PUA.

Los ocho acusados fueron acusados de robo mediante engaño, recepción de bienes robados y manipulación de registros públicos. Este caso está siendo procesado por el Fiscal General Adjunto Superior Tom Ost-Prisco, la Fiscal General Adjunta Suzanne Edwards y la Fiscal General Adjunta Kate McDermott. Todos los cargos discutidos son acusaciones. Los acusados se presumen inocentes hasta que se demuestre su culpabilidad.

Investigaciones en curso

Hasta la fecha, la oficina ha acusado a 63 individuos en toda la Commonwealth por presentar solicitudes fraudulentas de beneficios por desempleo que ascienden a aproximadamente 3,1 millones de dólares en fondos fraudulentos. Las investigaciones sobre esta práctica ilegal siguen en curso.

Puedes leer: Toque de queda más temprano para menores de edad

“Si usted ganó algún dinero extra durante la pandemia solicitando fraudulentamente beneficios de la PUA, entréguese y póngase en un plan de pagos para devolver el dinero de los contribuyentes robado. Haga lo correcto, o podría enfrentarse a cargos penales y a un proceso judicial. El Departamento de Trabajo e Industria ha establecido una línea directa de fraude en el 1-800-692-7469 o benefits.uc.pa.gov para que pueda denunciar este fraude. No espere a que llamemos a su puerta”, dijo el fiscal general Shapiro.

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The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program was designed only for workers not covered by traditional unemployment benefits. Now, the government initiative makes the program more inclusive. It is including laid-off applicants who were denied as they turned down a job offer because it did not comply with Covid-19 health standards.

According to Eli Rosenberg´s report for the Washington Post, workers eligible under the new guidelines will receive backdated payments for unemployment claims dating to the beginning of the pandemic, when the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program was created to help gig workers, self-employed workers and others who stopped working to take care sick of a sick relative or take care of a school-aged child.

Workers at unsafe workplaces will be required to attest, under the threat of perjury, that their employer was not in compliance with either local, state or national standards about the coronavirus, such as rules related to social distancing, disinfecting, and mask-wearing, the DOL said.

The provision seems targeted at the roughly 37,000 people who were denied unemployment insurance after being laid off and declining to return to work last year, about four times the level from 2019.

Unsafe conditions

However, the move will have little effect on the 1.23 million people who have been denied unemployment insurance after voluntarily quitting work.

The new guidelines do not appear to help people who quit work in the last year because they felt unsafe.

You can read: Unemployment benefit for Pennsylvania and NJ starting this week

 “Workers have been in this situation where they have had to choose between accepting work that puts them at risk of covid-19 exposure or refusing such work and then being denied unemployment benefits,” said Suzan LeVine, principal deputy assistant secretary for employment and training.

“The action that we’re taking today helps alleviate that decision, to alleviate that tension. We know that the losses have fallen hardest on communities of color. And if we intend to build back better, we need an unemployment system that covers as many workers who have historically struggled to access benefits,” Levine said.

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