Semaje Reffigee, Unemployment Insurance Fraud, Michigan 2023

A former employee of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (MUIA) has been sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for her participation in a wide-ranging fraud scheme designed to provide her and her co-conspirators with pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits to which they were not entitled.

DETROIT – Semaje Reffigee, 26, pleaded guilty on March 8, 2023, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Reffigee, a former Unemployment Insurance Examiner, had electronic access to the MUIA claims database and used her credentials to access and approve specific UI claims submitted to the agency.

Between October 2020 and June 2021, Reffigee conspired with others to obtain benefits through the submission of false UI claims, netting her and her co-conspirators a total of $313,000 in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits.

United States Attorney Ison stated, ‘Corrupt public servants compromise the ability of the government to function effectively and undermine confidence in all public programs.’

Reffigee began working as an Unemployment Insurance Examiner with the MUIA in October 2020. Her employer, the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency, is an important lifeline for workers who lose their jobs, and despicable actions by bad actors such as Reffigee damage the trust workers have in the system.

Her case is the latest in a series of high-profile UI fraud cases in Michigan, with nearly 50 individuals convicted to date.

Joining in the announcement were Irene Lindow, Special Agent-in-Charge, Great Lakes Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Julia Dale, Director of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency, and Charles Miller, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Detroit Field Office.

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