More Time Needed to Prosecute Pandemic Unemployment Fraud, Government Watchdogs Tell Congress
Federal watchdog officials are asking Congress to extend the statute of limitations to prosecute COVID-19 pandemic-era unemployment fraud cases.
During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Wednesday, Department of Labor Inspector General (DOL) Larry Turner testified (pdf) that he expects his department to be busy investigating pandemic-related fraud through at least September 2026 “when the statute of limitations for most pandemic-related violations will have expired.”
“In many cases, the statute of limitations will expire sooner than that,” Turner added.
The statute of limitations for mail and wire fraud is generally about five years, though the statutes extend to about 10 years for mail and wire fraud that affects a financial institution….