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Jobless pay fraud penalized Shady Cove man must repay $5,213 A Shady Cove man has pleaded guilty in Jackson County Court to illegally collecting $5,200 in unemployment benefits. Judge Ray White sentenced Darrell L. Burman, 54, to 18 months on probation and 40 hours of community service and ordered him to pay $5,213 in restitution. Illegally claiming benefits is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Employment Department spokesman Craig Spivey said Burman's conviction followed a department investigation matching computer records of those receiving benefits with employer records. "The department has 14 full-time investigators," Spivey said. "The majority of fraud that is committed is as a result of someone who is actually working but receiving unemployment benefits." To qualify for benefits, one must be able to work, available for work and actively looking for work. "We have about 75 to 80 fraud convictions per year," Spivey said. "Obviously, it's just a percentage of what's out there. We are trying to crack down." Most of the department's unemployment fraud convictions are obtained in the Portland metro area, where the majority of workers live. It's estimated that as many as 2 percent of the 185,000 claims filed annually are fraudulent. The department detects about 5,600 fraudulent claims annually. Most such cases are settled out of court and any overpayment to the worker is paid back through a payment plan. There have been eight convictions in Jackson County this year. Statewide, 84 convictions were obtained in 1997. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA