A former state labor department employee from Erie is facing federal fraud charges.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Pennsylvania, that former employee is 43-year-old Elizabeth Goss of Erie.

PSP searching for person who took $27,000 of wire from local store

Goss was indicted by a federal grand jury in erie on charges of wire fraud and theft of government property between June of 2020 and February of 2023.

Court records said Goss accepted unauthorized payments to approve or expedite pandemic-related unemployment claims even though the claimants were not entitled to those benefits.

The indictment alleges that Goss’s actions resulted in the payment of approximately $528,449 in unemployment compensation benefits to which claimants were not entitled.

Goss is facing a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both for each of her four wire fraud charges. She is also facing up to 10 years, a find of up to $250,000 or both for theft of government property.

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