(1) (a) Any person who makes false statement or representation of a material fact knowing it to be false, or knowingly fails to disclose a material fact, with intent to defraud by obtaining or increasing any benefit under articles 70 to 82 of this title or under an employment security law of any other state, of the federal government, or of a foreign government, either for himself or for any other person, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Any person who, in the opinion of the division, has received a benefit to which hewas not entitled by reason of his false representation or failure to disclose a material fact with intent to obtain or increase any benefit for himself or any other person and his trial by court is prevented by the inability of the court to establish its jurisdiction over said person shall be ineligible to receive any benefits under articles 70 to 82 of this title from the date of the discovery of the said act until such time as he makes himself available to the court for trial.
If any employer makes or causes to be made a false statement as to the reason for aclaimant's separation from employment or makes or causes to be made a false offer of work to a claimant, which statement or offer shall result in a delay in the payment of benefits to any such claimant, such employer shall be penalized by having his account charged with one and one-half times the amount of benefits due during the period of the delay and with one hundred percent of all other benefit payments paid to the claimant thereafter during his current benefit year, any other provisions of articles 70 to 82 of this title to the contrary notwithstanding, and the claimant shall be compensated by being paid one and one-half times his weekly benefit amount for the period of the delay. "The period of delay" as used in this section shall be determined by the division, and such determination shall be binding upon all parties affected and shall not be subject to review. The penalty imposed by this paragraph (c) shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any other penalty, civil or criminal, provided in articles 70 to 82 of this title.
Any employing unit, or any officer or agent of an employing unit, or any other person who makes a false statement or representation knowing it to be false or who knowingly fails to disclose a material fact either to cause an individual to receive benefits to which such individual is otherwise not entitled or to defraud an individual by preventing or reducing the payment of benefits to which such individual would otherwise be entitled, or to avoid becoming or remaining a subject employer, or to avoid or reduce any premium, surcharge, or other payment required from an employing unit under articles 70 to 82 of this title or under the employment security law of any other state, the federal government, or a foreign government or any such employing unit, officer or agent, or other person who willfully fails or refuses to pay any such premiums or surcharges or make any other payment, or to furnish any reports required under section 8-72-107, or to produce or permit the inspection or copying of records as required under section 8-72-107 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each false statement or representation or failure to disclose a material fact and each day such failure or refusal continues shall constitute a separate offense.
Any person who willfully violates any provision of articles 70 to 82 of this title orany rule or regulation thereunder, the violation of which is made unlawful or the observance of which is required under the terms of articles 70 to 82 of this title and for which a penalty is neither prescribed in this article nor provided by any other applicable statute, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than sixty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day such violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense.
(a) (I) Any person who has received any sum as benefits under articles 70 to 82 of this title to which he was not entitled shall be required to repay such amount to the division for the fund. Such sum shall be collected in the manner provided in section 8-79-102; except that the division may waive the repayment of an overpayment if the division determines such repayment to be inequitable.
If any person receives an overpayment because of his or her false representation orwillful failure to disclose a material fact, inequitability must not be a consideration in any civil, administrative, or criminal action, and the person shall pay to the division the total amount of the overpayment plus a sixty-five percent monetary penalty. Of the monetary penalty, the division shall pay twenty-three percent into the unemployment compensation fund, created in section 877-101, and the remainder into the unemployment revenue fund, created in section 8-77-106. In addition, the person may be denied benefits, when otherwise eligible, for a four-week period for each one-week period in which the person filed claims for or received benefits to which he or she was not entitled. The provisions of section 13-80-108 (9), C.R.S., shall be used for determining when an offense is committed for the purposes of this subparagraph (II).
All investigative costs awarded by the court and collected by the division in connection with the conviction, in any criminal action, of a person who has received any overpayment because of his or her false representation or willful failure to disclose a material fact shall be paid into the unemployment revenue fund.
The penalties associated with an overpayment pursuant to subparagraph (II) of thisparagraph (a) shall be made known to individuals upon filing an unemployment claim as defined in section 8-70-112.
Pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the director of the division, thedivision may write off all or a part of the amount of any overpayment which it finds to be uncollectible or the recovery of which it finds to be administratively impracticable. Amounts which remain uncollected for more than five years, or seven years for overpayments due to false representation or willful failure to disclose a material fact, may be written off as uncollectible.
Any person aggrieved by a determination of the division made under this subsection(4) may appeal that determination and obtain a hearing before a hearing officer with the right to further appeal as provided by article 74 of this title. The initial appeal must be received within twenty calendar days after the date of notification of such determination by the division; otherwise, the determination shall be final.
Upon final determination pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subsection (4), repaymentof an overpayment that is a result of the individual's false representation or willful failure to disclose a material fact pursuant to subparagraph (II) of paragraph (a) of this subsection (4) shall be made within thirty days.
Source: L. 36, 3rd Ex. Sess.: p. 47, § 16. CSA: C. 167A, § 16. L. 39: p. 581, § 12. L.
41: p. 800, § 16. L. 51: p. 821, § 14. CRS 53: § 82-11-1. L. 63: p. 682, § 10. C.R.S. 1963: § 8211-1. L. 65: p. 847, § 10. L. 67: p. 73, §§ 1, 2. L. 69: p. 671, § 10. L. 77: (1)(a) amended, p. 478, § 3, effective July 1; (4)(b) R&RE, p. 478, § 4, effective July 1; (4)(c) added, p. 479, § 5, effective July 1. L. 79: (4)(a) and (4)(c) amended, p. 355, § 24, effective September 30. L. 81:
(2) and (4)(a)(I) amended, p. 507, § 28, effective July 1; (4)(a)(I) and (4)(b) amended, p. 487, § 15, effective July 1. L. 83: (4)(a) amended, p. 433, § 13, effective June 3; (4)(d) added, p. 438, § 1, effective June 15. L. 84: (2) amended and (4) R&RE, pp. 319, 320, §§ 12, 13, effective July 1. L. 86: (4)(a)(II) amended, p. 703, § 10, effective July 1; (4)(b) and (4)(c) amended, p. 496, § 108, effective July 1. L. 86, 2nd Ex. Sess.: (4)(c) amended, p. 56, § 4, effective August 15. L. 90: (4)(a)(II) amended, p. 608, § 6, effective April 16. L. 92: (4)(b) amended, p. 1796, § 9, effective April 10. L. 2000: (4)(a)(II) amended and (4)(a)(III) added, p. 815, § 4, effective July 1. L. 2002: (4)(c) amended, p. 340, § 14, effective April 19. L. 2007: (4)(c) amended, p. 805, §
8, effective August 3. L. 2009: (2) amended, (HB 09-1363), ch. 363, p. 1909, § 35, effective July
1. L. 2011: (4)(a)(IV) and (4)(d) added, (HB 11-1288), ch. 212, p. 932, §§ 16, 17, effective July
1. L. 2013: (4)(a)(II) amended, (HB 13-1124), ch. 97, p. 312, § 2, effective August 7.