Maryland GOP Gov. Hogan says state, feds foil 'massive' jobless claim scheme totaling $501 million

Maryland officials have uncovered a “massive” identity-theft scheme involving more than 47,500 bogus unemployment claims worth roughly $501 million, GOP Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday.

“This criminal enterprise seeking to take advantage of a global pandemic to steal hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of dollars from taxpayers is despicable,” said Hogan, according to the Baltimore Sun

State officials became suspicious about two weeks ago, upon noticing a surge in out-of-state claims.

Hogan said the state quickly notified federal authorities, then put holds on paying such claims.

The Republican governor also said a few “real” people got their payments frozen, according to the newspaper. However, it’s unclear yet whether any of the fraudulent claims were paid. 

U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur said in a prepared statement that investigators found that people were using “stolen personal information to fraudulently attempt to obtain unemployment benefits” but provided no additional information, the newspaper also reported.