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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and its Office of Inspector General today announced they have jointly issued formal letters demanding that financial institutions immediately preserve funds held in prepaid debit card accounts linked to fraudulent unemployment insurance claims issued across many states during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter, Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling and Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito called on the financial institutions to freeze all identified accounts through December 31, 2026, while federal investigators work to recover potentially fraudulent funds tied to pandemic-era UI schemes. The action, in coordination with President Donald J. Trump’s White House