State Auditor Keith Faber confirms the state overpaid nearly $3.8 billion in unemployment benefits.
A state audit said changes to the federal requirements for unemployment compensation and a lack of controls led to the state doling out nearly four billion dollars in overpayments for jobless claims.
The report takes a deeper dive into the problem officials have been looking into.
Faber said other state agencies need to pay attention.
"We can't have major payment systems that don't have the proper security protocols in place, that don't have the controls in place to stop untoward actors," Faber said.
There were nearly 86-thousand potential payments to someone in prison and 141-thousand potential instances of money going to someone who's deceased.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services was flooded with pandemic claims and also had to create a new program for people who didn’t qualify for traditional unemployment.
ODJFS has since entered into a private-public partnership to cut down on fraud, streamline services, and seek out scammers.
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