96.16 Offenses.

1. Penalties. An individual who makes a false statement or representation knowing it to be false or knowingly fails to disclose a material fact, to obtain or increase any benefit or other payment under this chapter, either for the individual or for any other individual, is guilty of a fraudulent practice as defined in sections 714.8 to 714.14. The total amount of benefits or payments involved in the completion of or in the attempt to complete a fraudulent practice shall be used in determining the value involved under section 714.14.

2. False statement. 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, to prevent or reduce the payment of benefits to any individual entitled thereto, or to avoid becoming or remaining subject hereto, 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 hereunder or to produce or permit the inspection or copying of records as required hereunder, is guilty of a fraudulent practice as defined in sections 714.8 to 714.14. The total amount of benefits, contributions, or payments involved in the completion of or in the attempt to complete a fraudulent practice shall be used in determining the value involved under section 714.14.

3. Unlawful acts. Any person who shall willfully violate any provisions of this chapter or any rule thereunder, 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 herein nor provided by any other applicable statute, shall be guilty of a simple misdemeanor, and each day such violation continues shall be deemed to be a separate offense.

4. Misrepresentation.

a. An individual who, by reason of the nondisclosure or misrepresentation by the individual or by another of a material fact, has received any sum as benefits under this chapter while any conditions for the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter were not fulfilled in the individual’s case, or while the individual was disqualified from receiving benefits, shall be liable to repay to the department for the unemployment compensation fund, a sum equal to the amount so received by the individual. If the department seeks to recover the amount of the benefits by having the individual pay to the department a sum equal to that amount, the department may file a lien with the county recorder in favor of the state on the individual’s property and rights to property, whether real or personal. The amount of the lien shall be collected in a manner similar to the provisions for the collection of past-due contributions in section 96.14, subsection 3.

b. The department shall assess a penalty equal to fifteen percent of the amount of a fraudulent overpayment. The penalty shall be collected in the same manner as the overpayment. The penalty shall be added to the amount of any lien filed pursuant to paragraph “a” and shall not be deducted from any future benefits payable to the individual under this chapter. Funds received for overpayment penalties shall be deposited in the unemployment trust fund.

5. Experience and tax rate avoidance.

a. If a person knowingly violates or attempts to violate section 96.7, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, subparagraph (2) or (3), with respect to a transfer of unemployment experience, or if a person knowingly advises another person in a way that results in a violation of such subparagraph, the person shall be subject to the penalties established in this subsection. If the person is an employer, the employer shall be assigned a penalty rate of contribution of two percent of taxable wages in addition to the regular contribution rate assigned for the year during which such violation or attempted violation occurred and for the two rate years immediately following. If the person is not an employer, the person shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars for each violation which shall be deposited in the unemployment trust fund, and shall be used for payment of unemployment benefits. In addition to any other penalty imposed in this subsection, violations described in this subsection shall also constitute an aggravated misdemeanor.

b. For purposes of this subsection:

(1) “Knowingly” means having actual knowledge of or acting with deliberate ignorance of or reckless disregard for the requirement or prohibition involved.

(2) “Violates or attempts to violate” includes but is not limited to the intent to evade, misrepresentation, and willful nondisclosure.

[C39, §1551.22; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §96.16]

96 Acts, ch 1186, §23; 2005 Acts, ch 98, §2; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §181; 2013 Acts, ch 3, §2, 4; 2018 Acts, ch 1080, §6

Referred to in §96.5, 96.11

Subsection 4, paragraph a amended