NEW YORK (AP) - Prosecutors in Queens say 18 people have been charged with illegally collecting unemployment benefits they weren’t entitled to.
District Attorney Richard A. Brown and New York State Labor Commissioner Peter M. Rivera said Thursday that the 18 individuals collected more than $340,000 in unemployment benefits while they were actually working.
They have been charged with first- and second-degree grand larceny and first-degree falsifying business records.
Rivera said unemployment Insurance fraud hurts all of New Yorkers by casting doubt on those who actually need the benefits.
Brown said the 18 defendants were arrested over the last four months following an investigation by the Department of Labor.
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