DJ Charged With Unemployment Fraud

Mark Thomas

A Wilkes-Barre, PA radio personality has been charged with fraudulently collecting more than $25,000 in unemployment benefits despite holding two jobs.

Mark Charles Thomas, 52, of Wilkes-Barre, is charged with felony counts of theft by deception and tampering with public records and a misdemeanor count of unsworn falsification. He is free on $10,000 unsecured bail, according to The Citizens Voice.

Court records say Thomas works at Motor World Auto Group in Wilkes-Barre and is a disc jockey for WDMT The Mountain 102.3 FM.

But he didn’t tell unemployment officials about that.

Instead, Thomas filed a claim using the Unemployment Compensation Internet System on July 9, 2010, and was deemed eligible for a payment of $226 per week, according to a police affidavit filed in court.

When the benefits expired in January 2011, Thomas reapplied for the benefits, qualifying for a new payment of $230 per week, according to the affidavit.

He also worked as a vice president at WVIA-TV for more than eight years.

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