E-I Fine

A hefty fine for a Lunenburg man who defrauded Employment Insurance over a 20 month period. Thirty-nine year old Leonard Clarke pleaded guilty to 39 counts of EI fraud between October 2004 and May 2006. He was fined $200 on each count for a total of $7,800. Clarke was also placed on house arrest for 6 months as part of a conditional sentence. Authorities say Clarke also received Workers Compensation benefits and was working some of the time he filed for unemployment. EI is recovering the fraudulent payments internally, and Clarke has already repaid more than $6,000.