Employment insurance cheat hit with $14,500 fine

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A man has been fined $14,500, on top of the tens of thousands he must pay back to the Canadian government, for illegally obtaining employment insurance benefits over several years.

Kensil T. Blacklock, 62, appeared in Moncton provincial court Monday and pleaded guilty to 58 counts of violating the federal Employment Insurance Act in Timber River over a five-year period.

“I’m sorry for what I did and it will never happen again,” Blacklock told Judge Camille Vautour.

Prosecutor Ryan Ballak told the court Blacklock was working at Timber River Eco Farms, in Timber River about 70 kilometres east of Moncton. Between 2018 and 2022, Blacklock made five applications for employment insurance to cover the times he wasn’t working.

Ballak explained that once a claim is accepted and someone is receiving benefits, they still have to provide information every couple of weeks verifying if they have or haven’t worked during that time period. The prosecutor said Blacklock told Service Canada 58 times that he had not worked and received benefits, when he actually had worked.

As a result, the offender received $35,289 falsely. The deception was discovered when investigators matched employment records from the potato farm with the information that was provided to the government by Blacklock. There were clearly periods over the five years where he collected benefits while working. He was confronted by investigators and admitted what he did.

“This was calculated, deliberate and intentional,” said the prosecutor. “That’s a considerable amount the taxpayers were defrauded of.”

The minimum fine for each count is $200 while the maximum fine is $5,000. Ballak suggested $250 per count, which the judge followed, imposing a $14,500 fine, along with six months probation.

Blacklock still also has to pay back the $35,000, and that process is underway, court heard.

While the offender has no prior convictions on his record, Ballak said the government caught him making employment insurance claims in the past that resulted in him being overpaid. He wasn’t prosecuted at that time but was warned he had to fill out his documents honestly.

Vautour told the offender he found his actions “quite calculated,” given that it happened over five years.

“This is a serious matter because it’s the social safety net,” said the judge.