Danbury Man Fraudulently Collected Nearly $23K in Unemployment: Investigators

A former Derby school employee is accused of unemployment compensation fraud after investigators said he under-reported his wages while working for the Derby public school system.

According to the state Division of Criminal Justice, Jeffrey Smith, 57, of Main Street in Danbury, faces charges of first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and first-degree larceny by unemployment fraud.

Investigators said Smith under-reported wages from when he worked as a school climate specialist for the Derby Board of Education and fraudulently collected around $22,931 in unemployment benefits from September 2012 to June 2014.

The case is being prosecuted by the state Unemployment Compensation Fraud Unit.

Smith was released on a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on August 30.

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