GA Code § 34-8-256 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 34 - Labor and Industrial Relations|Chapter 8 - Employment Security|Article 9 - Prohibited and Void Acts; Overpayments|§ 34-8-256. Penalties for False Representation or Fraudulent Claims

  Any person who knowingly makes a false representation or knowingly fails to disclose a material fact to obtain or increase any benefit or payment under this chapter or under an employment insurance act of any other state or government, either for himself or herself or for any other person, whether such benefit or payment is actually received or not, shall upon conviction be guilty of a misdemeanor.Each such act shall constitute a separate offense.However, if a false representation or failure to disclose a material fact occurs with respect to more than one claim, which claim was made in more than one benefit year, or if the benefits received under this chapter which were the subject of a false representation or failure to disclose a material fact exceed $4,000.00, any such person shall upon conviction be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years or fined not less than $1,000.00 or shall be subject to both such fine and imprisonment.   Any employing unit or any officer or agent of an employing unit or any other person who knowingly makes a false statement or representation or who knowingly fails to disclose a material fact in order to prevent or reduce the payment of benefits to any individual entitled thereto or to avoid becoming or remaining subject to this chapter or to avoid or reduce any contribution or other payment required from an employing unit under this chapter or who willfully fails or refuses to make any such contributions or other payment or to furnish any reports required under this chapter or to produce or permit the inspection or copying of records as required under this chapter shall upon conviction be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment not to exceed one year or fined not more than $1,000.00 or shall be subject to both such fine and imprisonment.Each such act shall constitute a separate offense.   Any person who establishes a fictitious employing unit for the purpose of enabling such person or another person to receive benefits under this chapter to which such person is not entitled shall upon conviction be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years or fined not less than $1,000.00 or shall be subject to both such fine and imprisonment.   Any person who removes, deposits, or conceals or aids in removing, depositing, or concealing any property upon which a levy is authorized under any Code section of this chapter with intent to evade or defeat the assessment collection of any debt may be fined not more than $5,000.00 or imprisoned for not more than three years or shall be subject to both such fine and imprisonment and shall be liable to the state for the costs of prosecution.   Any person who willfully violates any provision of this chapter or any order, rule, or regulation under this chapter, the violation of which is made unlawful or the observance of which is required under the terms of this chapter and for which a penalty is neither prescribed in this chapter nor provided by any other applicable provision of this Code section, shall upon conviction be guilty of a misdemeanor; and each day such violation continues shall be deemed to be a separate offense.     (Code 1981, §34-8-256, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 139, § 1.)   Cross references.   - Punishment for misdemeanors generally, § 17-10-3.   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Default of debtor and bankruptcy.    - When the Georgia Department of Labor (Department) filed a state criminal action against a debtor pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 34-8-256(a) after the debtor defaulted on an agreement to repay excess unemployment benefits that were fraudulently obtained in lieu of prosecution, the bankruptcy court declined to enjoin the criminal action, and granted the Department's motion for summary judgment, because any interference with the debtor's discharge was a distant and speculative event, rather than a great and immediate threat; the debtor had not been convicted and the bankruptcy court had not entered the discharge order. Smith v. Goode (In re Smith), 301 Bankr. 96 (Bankr. M.D. Ga. 2003).   Employer's false statements do not support at-will employee's wrongful discharge claim.    - Although a discharged at-will city employee's claims that the employer falsified the separation notice and conspired to deceive the Department of Labor for purposes of denying the employee unemployment compensation benefits could possibly have implicated the criminal provisions of O.C.G.A. §§ 34-2-13(b) and34-8-256(b), there was nothing in those statutes that authorized a wrongful discharge claim on that basis. Reid v. City of Albany, 276 Ga. App. 171, 622 S.E.2d 875 (2005).   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL   Community service instead of restitution not authorized.   - O.C.G.A. Ch. 8, T. 34 does not authorize the imposition of a criminal sentence for unemployment fraud that permits community service in lieu of restitution of overpaid benefits to the Department of Labor. 1993 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 93-15.