Source: China Overseas Chinese Network
According to the U.S. "World Journal" reported that an elderly Chinese who has been paralyzed for many years in Rosemead, Los Angeles County, usa, applied for unemployment benefits in August this year with the help of a lawyer, after which he received the first money, but the old man was worried and deeply disturbed, and in early October he called the California Employment Development Agency (EDD) to ask if he could use the money, and the reply he got was no.
Ms. J, a senior EDD staff member, received a call from the elderly, "I made it clear to him that I could not use this money, and if I used it, it would bring a series of troubles." According to Ms. J, at the end of August, a lawyer took the disabled elderly man to a hotel in san Gabriel Valley, where he helped the elderly apply for unemployment benefits, "The old man was paralyzed for more than ten years, he has been in a wheelchair, he has no way to work, he has not done business, how can he apply for unemployment benefits?" ”
Ms. J said this is a typical unemployment fraud case, "the old man has received the first unemployment benefit, he asked me what to do, I said if the card is returned unchanged, we will not pursue the matter." On the phone, Ms. J asked the old man why he had taken unemployment benefits, and the old man replied that he did not know anything, and it was the lawyer who helped apply.
EDD has recently received a number of similar cases, all in the same hotel, a person who claims to be a lawyer Chen helps the elderly apply for unemployment benefits, EDD has now stepped in to investigate the case, saying that it will strictly investigate the illegal people who impersonate unemployment benefits. At the same time, many Chinese people reported that many elderly people have applied for unemployment benefits with the help of this lawyer Chen, and some elderly people have even received more than 10,000 US dollars.
Ms. J said that EDD is not a social welfare agency, is a government agency specializing in helping the unemployed, if the elderly have a job or business, normal tax declaration, of course, can receive unemployment benefits, otherwise it is cheating the government's bailout money, "criminals may take advantage of the ignorance and greed of some elderly people, use specious language to confuse the elderly, confuse the concept." "EDD unemployment benefits are usually for staff receiving W2 salaries, and since March 29 last year, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the federal government has specially allocated funds to all self-employed people can also apply for unemployment benefits, but the extension has ended until September 4 this year.
Ms J pointed out that if the elderly do not have a job income, but pretend to receive unemployment benefits, they wait for a fine, all the money they get will be required to be refunded, and if there is no money to be refunded, the government will deduct the money from the Supplemental Security Income. At the same time, the credit of the elderly will also be greatly affected, and those with serious circumstances may be imprisoned.
Some of the elderly involved in the case said they were unaware of the details of the form they filled out when applying. But Ms. J said, "All signatures are signed by the old man himself, if in court, the old man does not know anything, it is useless, or to bear the corresponding legal responsibility." ”
For those who help the elderly to impersonate unemployment benefits, they naturally also bear legal responsibility. But Ms. J did not deny, "These people are difficult to catch, I have a lot of similar cases, the suspect helped others apply for unemployment benefits, quickly disappeared, can no longer be found." Ms. J also said that even if these criminals are caught, because there is no signature on the document, and it is bound to state in court that all the information is provided by the elderly, they do not know whether it is true or false, so as to escape responsibility, and finally only these old people who impersonate unemployment benefits are the most unlucky. (Shao Min)