Officials: IRS Employees Stole Unemployment Benefits

LONG ISLAND, NY— Four people who were employed at the Internal Revenue Service facility in Holtsville have been charged with grand larceny after they fraudulently collected unemployment benefits, the state Department of Labor [DOL] announced Wednesday. 

Christopher Najdek, of Medford, Marcel Oneal, of Copiague, Michelle Oyer, of Mastic, and Jennifer Connolly, of Centereach, stole $37,438 in total benefits while they were employed at the IRS between November 2010 and last month, the DOL said in a press release. 

"Individuals who scheme to defraud taxpayers by stealing money intended for the unemployed are on notice the Department of Labor's Office of Special Investigations and federal investigators have joined forces with local law enforcement to find and prosecute thieves," Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said in the release. "This collaboration of resources enhances our ability to identify fraudsters and secure the evidence we need to convict the guilty."

The four arrested are each charged with one count of third degree grand larceny, a class D felony. 

Najdek and Oneal were still working at the IRS at the time of their arrests, Newsday reported. 

A DOL spokesman told Newsday that there was no sign that the four arrested, who will be in court on desk appearance tickets in October, worked together in committing the fraud.