To amend the CARES Act to extend the statute of limitations for fraud under certain unemployment programs, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Mr. Smith of Missouri (for himself, Mr. LaHood, Mr. Yakym, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act extends the time limit for prosecuting fraud related to pandemic unemployment programs from the typical 5-year window to 10 years. This applies to anyone who committed fraud when collecting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC), or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits created under the 2020 CARES Act. The bill addresses the estimated $60-135 billion in fraudulent claims that overwhelmed state unemployment systems during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Who Benefits and How
Federal and state prosecutors gain an additional 5 years to investigate and prosecute pandemic unemployment fraud cases, enabling them to pursue thousands of cases that would otherwise expire under the standard statute of limitations. The Department of Justice can recover fraudulent payments through criminal restitution orders, civil penalties, and asset forfeitures. Criminal defense attorneys and forensic accounting firms benefit from increased caseloads related to these extended investigations. Law enforcement agencies can recover billions of dollars in stolen taxpayer funds that were fraudulently claimed during the pandemic emergency.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Individuals who committed pandemic unemployment fraud face prosecution risk for up to 10 years after their offense, instead of the typical 5-year window. This includes potential prison sentences, hefty fines, and mandatory restitution payments. Federal and state agencies must retain unemployment claim records, payment documentation, and identity verification materials for 10 years instead of the usual 5-7 year retention period, significantly increasing record storage and management costs. While the bill includes an exception preventing retroactive extension for cases where the statute of limitations has already expired, it still affects thousands of ongoing or potential fraud cases.
Key Provisions
- Extends the statute of limitations to 10 years for criminal prosecutions involving conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, identity theft, money laundering, and theft of government property related to pandemic unemployment claims
- Extends the statute of limitations to 10 years for civil enforcement actions under the False Claims Act and Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act for pandemic unemployment fraud
- Applies to all three major pandemic unemployment programs: PUA (for gig workers and self-employed), FPUC/MEUC (weekly supplements to regular unemployment), and PEUC (extended unemployment benefits)
- Includes a grandfather clause that prevents the law from reviving cases where the statute of limitations already expired before the bill's enactment
- Rescinds $5 million from unobligated CARES Act funds to offset the bill's budgetary costs
- Takes effect immediately upon enactment
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Extends the statute of limitations from the default period to 10 years for criminal and civil prosecution of fraud related to pandemic unemployment assistance programs created under the CARES Act
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Respond to widespread pandemic unemployment fraud by extending prosecution windows beyond typical 5-year statute of limitations, ensuring fraudsters can be pursued for a full decade after the offense"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Department of Justice prosecutors
- State and federal law enforcement agencies investigating pandemic fraud
- Taxpayers (indirectly, through fraud recovery)
- Legitimate unemployment claimants (indirectly, by deterring fraud)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Individuals who committed unemployment fraud during the pandemic (face extended prosecution risk)
- Defense attorneys (longer exposure period for clients)
- Potentially innocent individuals who made inadvertent errors (extended risk of investigation)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Section 3729 (False Claims Act) and section 3801 (Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act) of title 31, United States Code
Sections 371 (conspiracy), 641 (theft of government property), 1028A (aggravated identity theft), 1029 (fraud with access devices), 1341 (mail fraud), 1343 (wire fraud), 1344 (bank fraud), 1349 (conspiracy to commit fraud), 1956 (money laundering), 1957 (monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity) of title 18, United States Code
Section 2102 (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance), Section 2104 (Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation), Section 2107 (Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9021, 9023, 9025)
Unobligated balances from section 2118(a) of title II of division A of Public Law 116-136, as added by section 9032 of Public Law 117-2
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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