Former MSG Employees Charged

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he is making it a point to root out unemployment fraud and the latest bust has to do with Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall, with 35 former employees charged with fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits when they were on the job.

The workers, many of whom were ushers, have been accused of receiving $10,000 to $38,000 each in benefits after failing to report they were rehired after layoffs, according to state labor officials. Some workers had been let go and rehired several times.

More than 100 employees were implicated, but only some will be prosecuted for felony crimes, according to state officials. Investigators said employees continued to fill out online forms claiming they hadn’t yet found a job. A total of $1.5 million was taken improperly, officials estimated.

Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall have not been accused of wrongdoing. A spokesman for the company said it was cooperating with the investigation, but declined to speak about the case, citing a policy of not commenting on personnel matters.