We've all heard of dead people voting, particularly in Chicago, but in Indiana, they're also drawing unemployment benefits and tax refunds. According to an indictment brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Indianapolis, 27-year-old Lorenzo Lipscomb was charged with
stealing the identities of dead persons to collect more than $600,000 in tax refunds from the government and another $17,000 in unemployment benefits. The announcement yesterday added the charge of stealing the unemployment benefits to Lipscomb's previous charge for stealing tax refunds:
Lorenzo Lipscomb, 27, was charged with wire fraud on accusations that he received unemployment benefits using the identities of 18 people who were dead, U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett's office announced.
The government said Lipscomb used stolen identities to file online for unemployment benefits from January to July 2009. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development sent Lipscomb debit cards valued at about $17,000 before the scheme unraveled, prosecutors said.
Something is really wrong with Indiana's unemployment system if it's that easy to file online for unemployment benefits for dead persons. It looks like that in spite of all the money the state has spent on upgrading its system it still has some holes.
