Ohio § 4141.35

§ 4141.35.

(A) If the director of job and family services finds that any fraudulent misrepresentation

has been made by an applicant for or a recipient of benefits with the object of obtaining

benefits to which the applicant or recipient was not entitled, and in addition to

any other penalty or forfeiture under this chapter, then the director: (1) Shall within four years after the end of the benefit year in which the fraudulent

misrepresentation was made reject or cancel such person's entire weekly claim for

benefits that was fraudulently claimed, or the person's entire benefit rights if the

misrepresentation was in connection with the filing of the claimant's application

for determination of benefit rights; (2) Shall by order declare that, for each application for benefit rights and for each

weekly claim canceled, such person shall be ineligible for two otherwise valid weekly

claims for benefits, claimed within six years subsequent to the discovery of such

misrepresentation; (3) By order shall require that the total amount of benefits rejected or canceled under

division (A)(1) of this section be repaid to the director before such person may become

eligible for further benefits, and shall withhold such unpaid sums from future benefit

payments accruing and otherwise payable to such claimant.  Effective with orders issued on or after January 1, 1993, if such benefits are not

repaid within thirty days after the director's order becomes final, interest on the

amount remaining unpaid shall be charged to the person at a rate and calculated in

the same manner as provided under section 4141.23 of the Revised Code .  When a person ordered to repay benefits has repaid all overpaid benefits according

to a plan approved by the director, the director may cancel the amount of interest

that accrued during the period of the repayment plan.  The director may take action in any court of competent jurisdiction to collect benefits

and interest as provided in sections 4141.23 and 4141.27 of the Revised Code , in regard to the collection of unpaid contributions, using the final repayment order

as the basis for such action.  Except as otherwise provided in this division, no administrative or legal proceedings

for the collection of such benefits or interest due, or for the collection of a penalty

under division (A)(4) of this section, shall be initiated after the expiration of

six years from the date on which the director's order requiring repayment became final

and the amount of any benefits, penalty, or interest not recovered at that time, and

any liens thereon, shall be canceled as uncollectible.  The time limit for instituting proceedings shall be extended by the period of any

stay to the collection or by any other time period to which the parties mutually agree. (4) Shall, for findings made on or after October 21, 2013, by order assess a mandatory

penalty on such a person in an amount equal to twenty-five per cent of the total amount

of benefits rejected or canceled under division (A)(1) of this section.  The first sixty per cent of each penalty collected under division (A)(4) of this

section shall be deposited into the unemployment compensation fund created under section 4141.09 of the Revised Code and shall be credited to the mutualized account, as provided in division (B)(2)(g) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code .  The remainder of each penalty collected shall be deposited into the unemployment

compensation special administrative fund created under section 4141.11 of the Revised Code . (5) May take action to collect benefits fraudulently obtained under the unemployment

compensation law of any other state or the United States or Canada.  Such action may be initiated in the courts of this state in the same manner as provided

for unpaid contributions in section 4141.41 of the Revised Code . (6) May take action to collect benefits that have been fraudulently obtained from the

director, interest pursuant to division (A)(3) of this section, and court costs, through

attachment proceedings under Chapter 2715. of the Revised Code and garnishment proceedings

under Chapter 2716. of the Revised Code. (B) If the director finds that an applicant for benefits has been credited with a waiting

period or paid benefits to which the applicant was not entitled for reasons other

than fraudulent misrepresentation, the director shall: (1)(a) Within six months after the determination under which the claimant was credited with

that waiting period or paid benefits becomes final pursuant to section 4141.28 of the Revised Code , or within three years after the end of the benefit year in which such benefits were

claimed, whichever is later, by order cancel such waiting period and require that

such benefits be repaid to the director or be withheld from any benefits to which

such applicant is or may become entitled before any additional benefits are paid,

provided that the repayment or withholding shall not be required where the overpayment

is the result of the director's correcting a prior decision due to a typographical

or clerical error in the director's prior decision, or an error in an employer's report

under division (G) of section 4141.28 of the Revised Code . (b) The limitation specified in division (B)(1)(a) of this section shall not apply to

cases involving the retroactive payment of remuneration covering periods for which

benefits were previously paid to the claimant.  However, in such cases, the director's order requiring repayment shall not be issued

unless the director is notified of such retroactive payment within six months from

the date the retroactive payment was made to the claimant. (2) The director may, by reciprocal agreement with the United States secretary of labor

or another state, recover overpayment amounts from unemployment benefits otherwise

payable to an individual under Chapter 4141. of the Revised Code.  Any overpayments made to the individual that have not previously been recovered

under an unemployment benefit program of the United States may be recovered in accordance

with section 303(g) of the “Social Security Act” and sections 3304(a)(4) and 3306(f)

of the “Federal Unemployment Tax Act,” 53 Stat. 183 (1939), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311 . (3) If the amounts required to be repaid under division (B) of this section are not recovered

within three years from the date the director's order requiring payment became final,

initiate no further action to collect such benefits and the amount of any benefits

not recovered at that time shall be canceled as uncollectible, provided that the time

limit for collection shall be extended by the period of any stay to the collection

or by any other time period to which the parties mutually agree. (C) The appeal provisions of sections 4141.281 and 4141.282 of the Revised Code shall apply to all orders and determinations issued under this section, except that

an individual's right of appeal under division (B)(2) of this section shall be limited

to this state's authority to recover overpayment of benefits. (D) The director shall deposit any repayment collected under this section that the director

determines to be payment of interest or court costs into the unemployment compensation

special administrative fund established pursuant to section 4141.11 of the Revised Code . (E) If an individual makes a full repayment or a repayment that is less than the full

amount required by this section, the director shall apply the repayment to the mutualized

account under division (B) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code , except that the director shall credit the repayment to the accounts of the individual's

base period employers that previously have not been credited for the amount of improperly

paid benefits charged against their accounts based on the proportion of benefits charged

against the accounts as determined pursuant to division (D) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code . This division does not apply to any of the following: (1) Federal tax refund offsets under 31 C.F.R. 285.8 ; (2) Unclaimed fund recoveries under section 131.024 of the Revised Code ; (3) Lottery award offsets under section 3770.073 of the Revised Code ; (4) State tax refund offsets under section 5747.12 of the Revised Code ; (5) Unemployment compensation debts collected by the attorney general under Chapter 131.

of the Revised Code.