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Michigan Reverses 70 Percent of Fraud Cases, To Refund $21M

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The state of Michigan says it has reversed 70 percent of unemployment benefit fraud cases and is refunding $20.8 million after people were wrongly accused of collecting excessive benefits. 

The Unemployment Insurance Agency announced the results of a review Friday. It reviewed more than 62,000 cases for people who were assessed a fraud penalty and did not seek an appeal. About 44,000 cases were reversed.

Michigan has been under fire for a computer system that wrongly churned out cases of fraud. Last month, it dropped criminal charges against 186 people.

Over a two-year period, Gov. Rick Snyder's administration mostly relied on the computer system to flag thousands of people. They were hit with penalties, wage garnishments and lost tax refunds — before the state admitted it was wrong.

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