Ray Marchiori questioned over $266 million in IDES fraud recoveries

4 articles · Updated · The Center Square · May 5

At a Tuesday Illinois Legislative Audit Commission hearing, the IDES director said the agency tightened identity checks with DoIT and financial institutions after an audit for the year ending June 2024.
Marchiori said the $266 million came mostly from likely fraud and identity theft, while IDES has recovered nearly $713 million in overpayments since 2021 and blocked another $358 million in attempted fraud.
IDES finance chief Brett Cox could not immediately say how much total overpayment was involved, as lawmakers said pandemic-era unemployment fraud in Illinois had reached into the billions.

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