From The Detroit News

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Eleven Lear Corp.employees who improperly collected more than $100,000 in state jobless benefits have been found guilty of unemployment insurance fraud, the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency said last week.

The 11 employees at a Lear plant in Grand Rapids, MI claimed benefits of $5,405 to $16,523. They have been forced to pay back the benefits and cover fines and court costs. They also must perform community service.

Investigators received a tip about the fraud in late 2001 on the agency's fraud hot line and the state started charging the employees in October 2004.

Many of the employees started improperly collecting jobless benefits in 2002. The last case closed in May, the agency said.

The agency also is seeking administrative action against 29 other Lear employees who collected smaller sums that totaled more than $70,000.

"All 40 collected unemployment benefits while working full time, which is not allowed under the state's employment insurance law," said Sharon Bommarito, the Unemployment Agency's director.

When Lear, a Southfield, MI auto parts maker, initiated seasonal layoffs in January and July 2002, some workers filed for unemployment benefits. The employees who were charged with fraud continued to claim unemployment benefits even after they returned to work, according to Bommarito.

The unemployment agency worked with Lear and the Kent County Prosecutor's Office, which served warrants for the 11 workers who collected more than $5,000.

Several of the 11 declined comment or could not be reached. Lear also refused comment.

"Relative to that matter, we're not disclosing the status of employees at this time," Lear spokeswoman Andrea Puchalsky said.

David Plawecki, deputy director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, said it is possible some of the workers accidentally filed for benefits, but said the employees named in the case clearly knew they were employed when they were filing.

The maximum amount an unemployed Michigan resident can collect in one week is $362. Those who collected more than $5,000 had to be aware they were working and collecting jobless benefits at the same time, he said.

"There isn't much doubt here," said Plawecki, whose department oversees the unemployment agency. "It's pretty hard to confuse that."

The Lear case is one of several fraud investigations that will come to light in the near future, Plawecki said. The agency plans a crackdown on the practice.

"Fraud is one of the major issues that the agency is now concerned with," Plawecki said. Employees have been able to take advantage of the unemployment agency because it was not actively monitoring fraud, he said. Michigan paid $1.8 billion in jobless benefits last year.

2005 The Detroit News. All Rights Reserved.

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