COLUMBUS — Two former Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ intermittent employees are accused of recruiting a document forger to obtain over $300,000 in public unemployment assistance funds.
According to a press release from the Office of the Ohio Inspector General, the investigation revealed significant misconduct involving former employees Kyara Cauthon and Alana Hamilton.
The investigation began after ODJFS referred allegations of wrongdoing on Feb. 15, 2022. Cauthon, an intermittent customer assistant 2, allegedly took unauthorized actions on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims. This led to the improper release of funds to ineligible claimants.
Investigators found that Cauthon inflated claimant incomes without the necessary paperwork, while Hamilton, an intermittent customer service representative, improperly accessed and altered claims.
Together, their actions resulted in $311,943 in PUA benefits being wrongly paid. Records indicated that several benefit cards were sent to Cauthon’s home address, where they were used to buy luxury items such as footwear and clothing.
Third woman recruited to forge documents
Investigators also uncovered a connection between Cauthon and Jasmine Shows, a Columbus resident. Cauthon reportedly paid Shows to create fraudulent documents needed for PUA claims. These documents included fake pay stubs, utility bills, tax forms and even a fake letter from ODJFS.
The investigation also found that Cauthon filed her own PUA claim while employed by ODJFS, receiving $6,291 in benefits for which she was not eligible.
The Office of the Ohio Inspector General has referred the findings to the Franklin County prosecuting attorney and the Ohio Auditor of State for further action. The report of investigation, file number 2022-CA00007, is available online for public review at watchdog.ohio.gov.
This story was created by Jane Imbody, jimbody@gannett.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: ODJFS employees accused of improperly releasing $300K in benefits