Earlier in the month, there was a report of a city employee who made over $100,000 in dual employment while working 100% from home and showing up at the same time at the school system’s headquarters.
Baltimore Inspector General Isabelle Mercedes-Cumming shared the case of a city employee who, seeking a promotion, falsified a master’s degree after faking a college degree to get a job in the first place.
Cumming said the anonymous employee had qualified for a position requiring a college degree from the Bureau of Accounting and Payrolls (BAPS) two years ago, but did not have one.
No one checked her educational background, so when the topic of a promotion requiring a master’s degree came up, the employee told her boss that she had previously been enrolled in a master’s degree program at the same university.
Fake Photos and Transcripts
The original job application did not mention a master’s degree, but the employee said he contacted the university’s registrar and was told he had completed a master’s degree, “but the degree was not mailed.” It says.
Afterwards, employees requested BAPS to accept an up-to-date resume that “had a master’s degree from a local university” and included a photo of the master’s degree transcript and diploma, but “2001 He claims to have completed his master’s degree in May 2015,” Cumming wrote. .
Mr. Cumming summoned the university to verify his degree and found that the employee had not completed a semester at the university.
This farce went unnoticed until IG received an anonymous complaint.
Mr. Cumming summoned the university to verify his degree and found that the official had “never completed a semester” at the university.
There were no transcripts, and the master’s degree photographed was a fake.
City: “clarifying” the review
To avoid such fraud in the future, Cumming urged Mayor Brandon Scott and the Department of Human Resources to “ensure that proof-of-education checks are completed and properly implemented as part of the hiring process,” particularly in the case of “financial fraud.” It called for establishing a protocol to ensure that it is reviewed. You are in a position to access confidential information. ”
The mayor and chief human capital officer, Quinton M. Herbert, did not formally respond to the IG’s report.
Treasurer Michael Moiseyev said in a short response, “The employee identified is no longer a Baltimore City employee.”
And his agency “has taken the following steps,” he said.[ing] When recruiting candidates, we work with HR to identify and utilize additional selections based on the type of position (sensitive, trustworthy and functional positions). increase. ”
“The Ministry of Finance appreciates the Inspector General’s investigation and the opportunity to address these issues,” Moiseyev concluded.