HR-8873 — Recover COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act

YourVoice.Now Summary

Your MoneyCriminal Justice & Due ProcessCorporate BenefitsTransparency & Accountability

Ten years to charge pandemic jobless fraud — and a task force to get back money left at banks.

Your Money

Help for identity theft victims — notice pointing to resources

Some pandemic claims were filed in other people's names. Those people would get a standard notice, written with the consumer bureau, telling them where to turn.

Criminal Justice & Due Process

Deadline to charge pandemic benefit fraud — raised to 10 years

The 10-year clock would start the day of the crime. It covers criminal charges and civil suits for wire fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, and money laundering.

Reviving expired pandemic fraud cases — new deadline does not reach back

If the old deadline for a case ran out before this became law, the longer window would not apply. Only cases still within today's time limits would gain the extra years.

Corporate Benefits

Pandemic benefit money held by banks — guidance to return it

Banks hired by states to load benefits onto debit cards still hold some of that money. Federal bank regulators would give them a legal path for sending it back to the state.

Transparency & Accountability

Effort to recover wrongly paid benefits — task force due in 30 days

The Labor Department would pick one official to run the search. The task force would also seat the Attorney General, the Treasury, the FDIC, and its own watchdog.

More about this bill

Most people would see no change in daily life. Two groups would notice. If someone used your name to file a pandemic unemployment claim, you would get a standard notice. It would point you to help. If you were paid pandemic benefits you were not owed, the deadline to charge you or sue would grow to 10 years. That longer window would not reopen cases whose old deadline has already passed. The rest of the bill goes after money that never reached anyone. States loaded pandemic benefits onto prepaid debit cards. Some of that money still sits at banks. Some went to state unclaimed-property offices. A new federal task force, due within 30 days, would track that money down. It would then sort out which payments went to people who were not owed them. Banks and state offices would get written steps for sending money back. The Labor Department would repay states for the cost of helping. The House passed the bill in June 2026, and the Senate has not acted.

Congressional Summary

Recover COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act This bill extends to 10 years the statute of limitations for federal criminal charges or civil enforcement actions for fraud related to several unemployment insurance programs that were established during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill also establishes a task force to locate fraudulent payments and develop strategies to recover such payments. The extension applies to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation, and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. The bill extends the statute of limitations for (1) criminal charges related to fraud, including aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit fraud (currently subject to a 5-year statute of limitations); and (2) civil actions involving false claims (currently subject to a 6-year statute of limitations). However, the bill does not apply to a criminal prosecution or civil enforcement action if the applicable statute of limitations expired before the date of the bill's enactment. The task force established by this bill must coordinate with state agencies to identify federal pandemic unemployment compensation payments held by financial institutions and other entities or held by state agencies responsible for unclaimed property, coordinate with federal agencies to develop model processes that result in the cost-effective recovery of such payments, issue guidance to financial institutions on legal pathways for returning such payments, and issue guidance to state unclaimed property agencies on their obligation to review and return such payments.

Legislative Subjects

Advisory bodiesCardiovascular and respiratory healthEmergency medical services and trauma careFraud offenses and financial crimesGovernment studies and investigationsInfectious and parasitic diseasesIntergovernmental relationsState and local financeState and local government operationsUnemployment

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: House
Status: summarized
Action: Reported to House
Action Date: 2026-05-29
Date Added: 2026-06-25
Source: Congress.gov →

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