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Danbury Man Charged With Fraudulently Collecting $23K In Unemployment

DANBURY, Conn. -- A Danbury man was arrested and charged on Tuesday with fraudulently collecting almost $23,000 in unemployment compensation benefits by under-reporting the wages he earned while working for the Derby public school system, authorities said.

A Danbury man was charged with larceny and unemployment compensation fraud Tuesday.

A Danbury man was charged with larceny and unemployment compensation fraud Tuesday.

Photo Credit: File

Jeffrey Smith, 57, was arrested by Inspectors from the Unemployment Compensation Fraud Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney as the result of an investigation into a complaint by the Connecticut Department of Labor.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Smith under-reported the wages he was earning from working as a school climate specialist for the Derby Board of Education to fraudulently collect approximately $22,931 in unemployment benefits from September 2012 through June 2014.

The defendant has been charged with one count of larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community, a Class B felony punishable by not less than one year nor more than 20 years in prison and up to a $15,000 fine, along with one count of unemployment compensation fraud in excess of $500, a Class D felony punishable by not less than one year nor more than five years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.

Smith was released on a $10,000 non-surety bond; he is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court, G.A. No. 15 on Tuesday, Aug. 30, according to officials.

The case is being prosecuted by the Unemployment Compensation Fraud Unit, which was established under a partnership between the Division of Criminal Justice and the Department of Labor to investigate and prosecute fraud in the unemployment compensation program.

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