Acting on a tip that state workers were rubber-stamping hundreds of unemployment claims without vetting them, auditors with the state Comptroller's Office headed to a Nashville claims center to investigate.
The manager pointed them to a stack of paperwork - unemployment benefits he said had just been approved.
But after examining the paperwork, auditors also searched through office drawers and filing cabinets. Inside they found letters dating back months from employers disputing some of those claims - including a letter from one company noting the worker applying for unemployment checks was still employed by the company and earning $154,384 per year. That worker's unemployment payments had just been approved.
Read more from our news partners at The Tennessean.