A state taskforce’s unemployment insurance fraud investigation has helped lead to the convictions of eight people, including a local man.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development said Friday that the taskforce examines claims of people who appear to intentionally provide false or underreported information to claim benefits.

State officials say local courts recently found eight people guilty of unemployment insurance fraud as a result of their work.

They include John L. Cantrell, Warsaw, who was sentenced to one year to be served in Kosciusko County Jail and four years of probation and ordered to repay $79,909 for the benefits authorities say he fraudulently collected.

A South Bend man, Terry Owens, was ordered to repay over $16,000 and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years probation in his fraud case.

In another case,  a Richmond woman who was sentenced to two years of jail, six years of probation and ordered to repay over $32,000 for the benefits authorities say she fraudulently collected.