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DEW details fraud prevention and collection increases; agency automated recovery grows markedly
Summary
Stanton described identity‑theft prevention, cross‑matching with correctional records, wage withholdings, federal/state tax intercepts and a SLED agent for prosecutions; automated collections grew from roughly $300,000 to nearly $8 million over several years.
Cheryl Stanton told the committee that the department’s integrity work focuses on preventing improper payments, recovering overpayments and investigating fraudulent activity. She said monitoring IP addresses and sharing data with other states helped prevent nearly $1,000,000 in identity‑theft fraud.
Stanton described several collection and prevention tools: cross‑matches with state corrections and jail data to prevent benefit payments to incarcerated individuals; federal and state tax intercepts; involuntary wage withholdings (up to 25% of a paycheck) for restitution; automated matching of wage records to identify return‑to‑work and collection opportunities; and a full‑time SLED agent assigned to UI fraud investigations.
Stanton said automation and process changes boosted collections from about $300,000 in 2013–14 to more than $4 million the next year and nearly $8 million in a recent year. She emphasized that the first priority is recovering funds and that prosecutions are reserved for clear cases of fraud after collection avenues are exhausted.
