Concord, NH - Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald and Department of Employment Security Commissioner George Copadis announce that Peter Chant of Newmarket, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty and was sentenced Monday, in the Rockingham County Superior Court, on two counts of forgery, class B felonies.

On February 4, 2017, Mr. Chant fraudulently passed and cashed an unemployment compensation benefit check issued by the Department of Employment Security. This check was addressed to, and intended for, another individual. On February 10, 2017, Mr. Chant again passed and attempted to cash a second benefit check issued by the Department of Employment Security, addressed to the same, separate individual. The bank refused the check, due to a stop payment issued by the Department.

Mr. Chant was sentenced concurrently to 12 months in the house of corrections, with all but 7 days deferred for six months and then suspended for two years, conditioned on good behavior, the use of his likeness in the Department of Employment Security Benefits Rights Interview which discusses the ramifications of committing unemployment fraud, and the payment of restitution. He is disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits for 52 weeks.

The Department of Employment Security provides unemployment compensation benefits to eligible claimants who are unemployed through no fault of their own. The Department investigates and prosecutes both criminal and civil unemployment compensation fraud with the goal of protecting New Hampshire's unemployment compensation trust fund.