EP Man Sentenced for Unemployment Fraud

An East Providence man pled no contest to scamming tax payers through unemployment fraud, and must pay the state back more than $10,000.

Richard Daigle, 49, with a last known address on Birch Avenue in East Providence, had been charged with obtaining money under false pretenses for collecting unemployment benefits while he held down a job. For nearly six months — July 10, 2010 through Jan. 2, 1011 — Daigle collected unemployment while pulling down a paycheck from Stop & Shop, according to Attorney General Peter Kilmartin. He failed to disclose any income during that time.

“Unemployment insurance provides a critical safety net for thousands of struggling Rhode Islanders out of work," Kilmartin said in a press release. "We will not tolerate fraud and abuse of a system that is already financially strapped due to the state’s slow economic recovery and continuing high unemployment rate."

Daigle was sentenced to 10 years probation and ordered to pay the state $10,252. He was among 24 people arrested for unemployment fraud in March 2012 as part of an investigation by State Police and the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. The State Police Fraud Unit "will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who defraud the system and steal taxpayer dollars," Kilmartin said