Fraudulent unemployment benefits claims, including some from people whose employers turned out to be fictitious, resulted in $900,000 in improper payments by Iowa Workforce Development over three years, The Des Moines Register reported, based on a state audit. Iowa Workforce Development had identified some of the illegal activities that occurred between January 2013 and January 2015 but failed to review and find the full scope of the scheme, the audit shows. At least $909,000 in improper unemployment payments and uncollected penalties included $723,000 in payments based on a phone system malfunction and almost $100,000 in bogus claims. Read the full news release