This is not a debate on the merits, or not, of unemployment payments. If you need it, well you need it. All I said was that this Mr. Bass needed public assistance in his retirement years, after what appears to be a stellar career. I have never known an engineer with his resume, having to do that.
Unemployment insurance is not "public assistance." Shane, you keep repeating that as if his UI claim represents some sort of neediness. It doesn't. It is no indication of desperation. You might not have known any engineer doing that, but, in fact, many do, and don't necessarily talk about it. It takes some special conditions. This has nothing to do with "retirement years." He could be collecting retirement income and UI at the same time, the former has no impact on the latter.
I am not claiming that Bass did not knowingly participate in fraudulent representation. Maybe he did. Maybe he was paid much more than he'd have made as an ordinary contract engineer for the time. What I was saying was that if he didn't, he would probably be okay, if he simply tells the truth about the whole thing.
If he did know, he might still be okay, if he makes it right by full admission of what he knew. He was certainly not the prime mover, the big fish.