ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Since the beginning of May -- 508,079 new unemployment claims have been flagged as potentially fraudulent, the Maryland Department of Labor said Monday.
As previously reported by WMAR-2 News, the new influx in fraud cases prompted the department to halt its updating of new weekly unemployment claims during the weeks ending on May 22, May 29, and June 5.
Yet still those weekly numbers remain the same, listed identically at 15,182.
This is how the State Labor Department's own website reads under the unemployment numbers breakdowns for those three weeks.
"The numbers for the week are being evaluated. Per the recommendation of the U.S. Department of Labor, new weekly claim numbers for the week ending May 22 were submitted as a temporary estimate. The numbers for the week ending May 29 will be revised and available at a later date."
RELATED: Maryland updates weekly unemployment numbers for first time in weeks citing fraud investigation
It wasn't until the week ending June 12, when updated numbers were released.
As of June 15 -- 1,272,959 out-of-state and in-state unemployment insurance claims have been flagged. Of those, 91.57 percent (1,165,645) have been deemed fraudulent. Only 68,971 have ended up getting approved. Currently 38,343 are still pending review.
