Where it is clearly shown from the surrounding circumstances that the claimant made a false statement or omitted material facts and thereby received unemployment benefits they were not entitled to receive, it may be inferred from these facts that they intended to obtain those benefits illegally. Facts may be established by testimony, which may be accompanied by objects. These objects can be very important to any case. What the fact-finders can see or touch will aid them in understanding the case and the testimony immensely. The production of objects as evidence is called tangible evidence.
Tangible evidence is classified as either real or demonstrative evidence.
Real evidence is an object that is connected with the case, e.g., the claim certification or unemployment check signed by the claimant during the period at issue. Demonstrative evidence is an object not connected with the case but which was prepared to help demonstrate some aspect of the case to aid the fact-finder in understanding the testimony being presented. Since demonstrative evidence is merely a visual aid, the evidence presented must both help the witness present the testimony and help the fact-finder understand the testimony. In a complex case of multiple identities or fictitious employer cases, it might be useful to prepare a chart showing the common threads that connect all the identities, showing how checks under different names and SSNs went to the same addresses, were cashed by the same person, or deposited in a single bank account. Such a chart will aid both the witness in explaining their testimony and aid the fact-finder in understanding the real evidence presented by the actual unemployment checks and their connection to the defendant.