Press Release  Fall River Man Pleads Guilty, Sentenced for Collecting Unemployment Benefits While Working

Boston — A Fall River man has pleaded guilty and has been sentenced in connection with collecting more than $15,000 in unemployment benefits while continuing to work, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Ryan L. Clark, 39, of Fall River, pleaded guilty yesterday to the charges of Larceny over $250 (one count) and Unemployment Fraud (23 counts) in Suffolk Superior Court.

After the plea was entered, Judge Peter Krupp sentenced Clark to three years of probation. Clark was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $15,617.

This investigation was referred to the Attorney General’s Office by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development’s Department of Unemployment Assistance (EOLWD\DUA). Clark was indicted by a Suffolk County Grand Jury in February 2016. 

Clark fraudulently collected unemployment benefits from the DUA from November 2012 through May 2014, while he was earning $28,000 working full-time as a carpenter at the Burlington-based W.J. Mosk. Clark told the DUA that he was not working during this time period. 

The DUA provides temporary assistance to unemployed workers through the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program, which is funded by employer contributions. Private employers are required to pay quarterly contributions into the trust fund based on the number of workers they employ and how often their workers have accessed UI benefits, among other factors.

DUA’s Program Integrity Department focuses on the prevention, detection and the investigation of those who defraud or attempt to defraud the unemployment insurance program. Once fraud is detected, the Program Integrity Department works aggressively with the Attorney General’s office and other agencies to recover money owed to the UI Trust Fund.

AG Healey’s Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Unit works to protect consumers and the integrity of the insurance system by investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against all types of insurers, including the Commonwealth’s unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation systems.

To report unemployment fraud call the EOLWD/DUA’s Fraud Hotline @ 1-800-354-9927 or visit: www.mass.gov/lwd/ui-fraud anytime, 24 hours a day. Callers may remain anonymous.

This case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Geoffrey Wood AG Healey’s Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Unit with assistance from Investigator Kimberly Medeiros also of AG Healey’s Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Unit and investigators from the DUA.

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