In a press conference yesterday, Employment Security Department (ESD) Commissioner Suzan LeVine provided new details regarding the imposter fraud attack on the state unemployment insurance system. The amount of confirmed fraudulent payments totals $576 million, for 86,449 fraudulent claims. About $410 million of this was paid between May 2nd and May 8th.

ESD reports that $340 million of the $567 million has been recovered, leaving a net loss of $236 million. A significant portion of this loss will fall on the federal government, as it results from claims against the federally funded enhancements to unemployment insurance authorized by the Cares Act. ESD does not presently know the precise federal/state breakdown of the loss, but notes that in recent months about two-thirds of UI payout has been federal funds.

Video of the press conference is here; slides are here; and the press release is here.