BROWN, Judge.
Shawn Telligman appeals a decision by the Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (the "Board") in favor of Indiana Department of Workforce Development Unemployment Insurance Claims Adjudication ("IDWD") on IDWD's claim that Telligman failed to disclose or falsified information to IDWD in order to receive unemployment benefits, that he received certain benefits to which he was not entitled, and that he is liable to repay IDWD the benefit overpayment amounts together with applicable penalties and interest. Telligman raises two issues which we restate as whether the Board erred in finding that he knowingly failed to disclose or falsified any fact that would disqualify him from receiving benefits, reduce his benefits, or render him ineligible for benefits or extended benefits, and whether the Board abused its discretion in denying his request to submit additional evidence. We affirm.
Telligman filed claims for unemployment benefits starting in October 2009 and received those benefits for certain weeks between December 2009 and December 2010. Following an investigation, an investigator with the IDWD issued three determinations of eligibility notifications on November 15, 2012, finding that Telligman knowingly failed to disclose or falsified material facts and that Telligman had filed vouchers for and received unemployment benefits for weeks during which he had been employed and had employment earnings. Telligman appealed the determinations. On January 16, 2013, a hearing was held before an administrative law judge (the "ALJ") at which the parties presented documentary evidence, testimony, and arguments.
The ALJ issued a decision dated January 17, 2013, which provided in part:
Exhibits at 248-250. Telligman appealed the ALJ's decision and requested to submit additional evidence, and on March 4, 2013, the Board, after noting that no hearing was held by the Board and that no additional evidence was accepted, affirmed the ALJ's decision. Telligman now appeals the Board's decision.
The first issue is whether the Board erred in concluding that Telligman knowingly failed to disclose or falsified any fact that would disqualify him from receiving benefits, reduce his benefits, or render him ineligible for benefits or extended benefits. Telligman contends that "[t]here is much in the record to dispute the inference that [he] had knowledge of the claims at issue," that his former spouse was the person "who subsequently filed vouchers for [him] using the computer at her parent's [sic] home," that he did not accompany her, that she "had access to and primary possession of [his] debit card," and that he "had no reason to continue to monitor the ID, password, and debit card after returning to work because he believed his unemployment benefits stopped when he started working." Appellant's Brief at 6. Telligman further asserts that the Board applied Ind.Code § 22-4-13-1.1 in error, that "[t]he statute does not include a definition for what constitutes an `instance,'" and that "[n]o explanation was provided for why claims with the same benefit year would be assessed separately." Id. at 6-7. As to the second issue, he argues that the Board abused its discretion in denying his request to submit additional documents which would rebut the inference that he must have been using the unemployment benefits debit card during a period his former spouse stated she was incarcerated and which would show that he did not submit certain vouchers.
The Board maintains that the statute was correctly applied and that Telligman had fraudulently applied for and received unemployment benefits. The Board argues that, with respect to each of three claims, vouchers were submitted and Telligman received benefits while he was employed. The Board further argues that Telligman shared his user ID and password with his wife, that she submitted vouchers on his behalf and with his consent, and Telligman knowingly allowed his wife control and access to his unemployment account. The Board maintains there was substantial evidence to arrive at the conclusion that Telligman had actual knowledge that he was committing fraud by submitting electronic vouchers while he was employed. The Board also argues that IDWD "has consistently interpreted `instance' to mean each time a new claim for benefits is opened rather than each time a fraudulent voucher is submitted on a particular claim" and that "Telligman filed three separate claims, which translates to three separate instances." Appellee's Brief at 13. The Board also argues that the ALJ found that Telligman knew his former wife was filing the vouchers, that he agreed pursuant to a "User Agreement" to accept responsibility "for all activities that occur at the site under [his] password," and thus that, "when [he] knowingly shared his user ID and password with [his former spouse], he became responsible for all information submitted on vouchers." Id. at 14. Finally, the Board argues that Telligman was not entitled to introduce additional evidence and that he failed to show that the evidence
The standard of review on appeal of a decision of the Board is threefold: (1) findings of basic fact are reviewed for substantial evidence; (2) findings of mixed questions of law and fact — ultimate facts — are reviewed for reasonableness; and (3) legal propositions are reviewed for correctness. Recker v. Review Bd. of Ind. Dep't of Workforce Dev., 958 N.E.2d 1136, 1139 (Ind.2011) (citing McClain v. Review Bd. of Ind. Dep't of Workforce Dev., 693 N.E.2d 1314, 1318 (Ind.1998), reh'g denied). Ultimate facts are facts that involve an inference or deduction based on the findings of basic fact. Id. (citing McClain, 693 N.E.2d at 1317). Where such facts are within the special competence of the Board, the Court will give greater deference to the Board's conclusions, broadening the scope of what can be considered reasonable. Id. (citing McClain, 693 N.E.2d at 1318).
Ind.Code § 22-4-1-1 provides that the unemployment compensation system was established "to provide for payment of benefits to persons unemployed through no fault of their own, to encourage stabilization in employment, ... and to provide maximum job training and employment opportunities for the unemployed, underemployed, the economically disadvantaged, dislocated workers, and others with substantial barriers to employment...." At the time Telligman received the benefits at issue, Ind.Code § 22-4-13-1.1 provided in part:
(Subsequently amended by Pub.L. No. 154-2013, § 5 (eff. Jul. 1, 2013)).
To the extent Telligman challenges findings of basic fact, our review of the record reveals substantial evidence of the findings of basic fact of the ALJ and the Board. See Recker, 958 N.E.2d at 1139. The ALJ and Board found, and the documents introduced by the IDWD show, that Telligman filed his first claim for regular benefits on October 6, 2009, his second claim for extended benefits on May 11, 2010, and his third claim for regular benefits on October
In addition, the ALJ and Board found and the evidence at the hearing shows that Telligman was placed on notice at the time he filed his claim that he was responsible for ensuring that all information submitted was accurate, and that he received benefits to which he would not have otherwise been entitled if his employment status and wage information had been properly reported. The User Agreement which Telligman accepted when he created his online account to file his claims provided in part that Telligman was "responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of [his] account and password" and that "[b]y establishing an account, [Telligman] agrees to accept responsibility for all activities that occur at the site under [Telligman's] password." Exhibits at 83. IDWD presented evidence that, in order to submit a claim online, a warning regarding penalties for falsification appears in the middle of the webpage which states: "I understand that I must report all earnings from employment or self-employment regardless of source." Id. at 78.
Further, IDWD presented evidence that, for each of the vouchers submitted by or on behalf of Telligman, a number of questions required responses including whether the claimant worked during the weekly benefit period and, if so, how much the claimant earned. Each of the vouchers showed that he did not work and did not have earnings during the applicable benefit weeks. The evidence demonstrates that he earned wages in excess of his weekly benefit amount during weeks for which a voucher was submitted by or on his behalf during both of his regular claim periods and his extension claim period.
To the extent Telligman argues that his former wife submitted the weekly vouchers on his behalf and that he had no reason to monitor his user ID, password, and debit card after returning to work because he believed his unemployment benefits had ended, and that he did not knowingly fail to disclose income, we note that "[a] person engages in conduct `knowingly' if, when he engages in the conduct, he is aware of a high probability that he is doing so," see Ind.Code § 35-41-2-2(b), and this definition of knowingly is incorporated into Ind.Code §§ 22-4-11.5 by Ind.Code §§ 22-4-11.5-6. In Tiller v. Review Bd. of Ind. Dep't of Workforce Dev., the ALJ and Board had found that the claimant's wife "did the computer work for claimant, filing for unemployment benefits and filing weekly vouchers." 974 N.E.2d 478, 480 (Ind.Ct.App.2012). The ALJ and Board found that the claimant failed to disclose or falsified a material fact and therefore was liable to repay to IDWD the total overpayment plus penalties pursuant to Ind.Code § 22-4-13-1.1. Id. The claimant argued that the Board did not resolve several issues including whether he was "computer illiterate," whether "there was a reasonable explanation for [the claimant's] wife's sporadic disclosure of part[-]time wages," and whether he knew that incorrect information was reported to IDWD. Id. at 481. This court noted that the
Based upon the evidence recited above and in the record regarding Telligman's three unemployment benefit claims, the vouchers submitted by his former wife with respect to each of the claims, and his employment and earnings, we conclude that the Board did not err in finding that Telligman knowingly failed to disclose or falsified facts related to his employment and earnings that would disqualify him from receiving benefits, reduce his benefits, or render him ineligible for benefits or extended benefits.
With respect to Telligman's argument that the Board erred in failing to accept the evidence he wished to present after the hearing, we note that the decision to accept additional evidence is a decision left to the discretion of the Board. Tiller, 974 N.E.2d at 481. "The rule requires a party offering additional evidence to show good cause why such evidence should be accepted and good reason why it was not introduced before the ALJ."
In this case, like in Tiller, we cannot say that the Board, if it had accepted and considered the additional evidence Telligman wished to present, would have credited the additional evidence in the same way Telligman does. See id. Telligman claims that his additional evidence of his debit card activity "would serve to rebut the inference that [he] must have been using the debit card during those dates" and "would also support [his] claim that he did not file the May 11, 2010 or October 3, 2010 claims or submit vouchers, as [his former spouse] was not incarcerated and free to take those actions." Appellant's Brief at 9. The evidence before the ALJ and Board included certain debit card usage records, and the ALJ expressly determined that the debit card which accessed the unemployment benefits released to Telligman "was used for purchases from various merchants[,] and cash withdrawals were made from the debit card during such time period" and that, while Telligman alleged that the card was removed from his wallet in August 2010 without his knowledge, "the usage records in August 2010 reflected similar usage for purchases and withdrawals at the same merchants and ATM locations as prior debit card usage." Exhibits at 248-249. The ALJ and Board considered evidence of the nature and frequency of the usage of the debit card and the extent to which the usage records tended to show either that Telligman or his former wife were in possession of the debit card or that Telligman was aware that he or his former wife were using unemployment benefits while he was employed and earning wages.
Further, the additional evidence Telligman wished to present to the Board was available prior to the hearing before the ALJ, and he was aware of the dates his former spouse indicated she was incarcerated in her sworn statement made available to him prior to the hearing. Specifically, in her statement which was admitted as IDWD's Exhibit E at the hearing, when asked if she received certain benefits using the debit card belonging to Telligman "for weeks ending 10/9/10 to 12/18/10," Telligman's former spouse stated: "No I did not use Shawn Debit card in that time Oct 7 to Oct 26 I was in jail." Exhibits at 165. On another page of her statement, when asked if she had been incarcerated anywhere during any of the other dates of the claims, Telligman's former spouse stated "yes oct 2010." Id. at 167. At the hearing, Telligman indicated that he had an opportunity to review the pages of IDWD's Exhibit E, and if he wished he could have presented, at the hearing, the additional evidence he later asked the Board to accept. Further, even if there was no usage of the debit card, Telligman's former wife, on his behalf, used his user ID and password (which he had shared with her) to submit weekly vouchers indicating that Telligman did not have employment when that was not in fact the case. Pursuant to the User Agreement, Telligman remained responsible for the information provided when the vouchers were submitted on his behalf. We conclude that the Board did not err or abuse its discretion when it did not accept his additional evidence. See Tiller, 974 N.E.2d at 482 (concluding the Board did not abuse its discretion when it did not consider the claimant's additional evidence).
Based upon the record, we conclude that the ALJ and Board did not err in finding that Telligman knowingly failed to disclose or falsified facts that would disqualify him from receiving benefits, reduce his benefits, or render him ineligible for benefits or extended benefits, in finding him liable to repay IDWD the benefit overpayment amounts together with applicable penalties and interest, and that the Board did not abuse its discretion in denying his request to submit additional evidence.
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the decision of the Board.
Affirmed.
NAJAM, J., and MATHIAS, J., concur.