AG: New Bedford Man Collected $14K in Unemployment while Working

BOSTON — A New Bedford man has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to charges including unemployment fraud.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's Office says Douglas Nunes, 42, of New Bedford, pleaded guilty in Boston Municipal Court last week to two counts of unemployment fraud and larceny over $250. Nunes was charged following an investigation by the AG's Office that revealed Nunes had collected $14,000 in unemployment benefits while he was employed.

Judge Michael Coyne sentenced Nunes to six months in the House of Correction.

“The defendant stole from taxpayers and took advantage of our state’s unemployment system,” said AG Healey. “We will continue to go after those who defraud the state and take valuable resources away from those who need them.”

Healey's Office began an investigation after the matter was referred by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development's Department of Unemployment Assistance (EOLWD/DUA).

The investigation revealed that Nunes applied for and began receiving unemployment benefits between September 2009 and June 2010 and did not disclose his employment to the EOLWD/DUA.

During the 35 weeks that Nunes had been collecting unemployment benefits, he earned over $40,000 through his job at Massachusetts Electric Construction Company.

Nunes was charged in June 2013, but failed to appear in court several times and only recently appeared to resolve the case, according to the AG's Office.