Watchdog finds widespread fraud at U.S. Census Bureau

[Paladin]

Just another tale of government corruption. No big surprise.

"Dozens of government employees at the U.S. Census Bureau have been billing taxpayers for time they never actually worked, wasting more than $1 million.

The 40 officials were supposed to be performing background checks on the census personnel who walk door-to-door throughout the country to collect information about Americans. Instead, they "engaged in pervasive misconduct over several years," according to an investigation by the Commerce Department's inspector general.

The watchdog found at least one employee in the Census Bureau's employment office who "used his official position as a personal hiring vehicle for friends and their families."

That employee, who was not identified, "was involved in a sexual relationship" with a contractor he personally interviewed, hired and supervised."

and on and on http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/widespread-fraud-at-u.s.-census-bureau/article/2572348

[Paladin]

And another.

"CHICAGO (WLS) -- There's turbulence at the Federal Air Marshals headquarters in Chicago amid a scandal involving prostitutes and some of the armed officers who fly to protect air travelers.

Members of a congressional committee will be briefed on this case in Washington on Thursday.

The I-Team has details of these three federal air marshals working out of the Chicago field office, suspended after authorities say the men were contacting prostitutes while on-duty, using phones provided by taxpayers and compromising the public they are paid to protect.

"You basically had people who were using their time as a federal air marshal, using federal assets for their own salacious personal gains that involved potential pornography - acting as if they were filming pornography shows and using their federal assets, their badge and their access on planes to do some things that they should not have been doing," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.

In Washington, the I-Team has learned that House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Chaffetz will highlight misconduct in Chicago's federal air marshal office.

A former federal air marshal tells the I-Team that three marshals in Chicago were found to have been involved with prostitutes and using their government-issued cellphones while on-duty to set up the meetings.

All three men were put on unpaid leave. One of the three marshals resigned.

"They have got to get a grip on this because these people are entrusted with weapons on planes to protect the public and heaven forbid something happen, they A) have to be on that flight, got to be sober and got to be ready for any instance that arises and some of them have been using this for this for these salacious personal gains that are totally unacceptable," Chaffetz said.

TSA officials, who oversee the Federal Air Marshal Service, said in a statement: "TSA demands the highest standards of integrity and professionalism from its employees. When criminal behavior or misconduct is substantiated, TSA vigorously holds its employees accountable."

Federal sources close to the investigation tell the I-Team that the three Chicago air marshals posed as pornographers looking for women to star in their movies; that they used "Craigslist Backpage Adult Services" to communicate with the women via their government-issued cellphones and then recorded their sexual encounters on the agency cellphones.

An investigation started when supervisors looked into a worker's compensation claim filed by one of the air marshals and confiscated his phone, leading to the two other air marshals in the Chicago office.

The I-Team left numerous messages and sent emails to the three air marshals. They have not responded.

Congressman Chaffetz says the investigation has spread beyond Chicago.

"There is more than one incident, some of this is with prosecutors, some will be charges, some of it is in the investigative phase. I wish I could tell you it was an isolated incident but it's not necessarily an isolated incident and that's the concern," Chaffetz said.

Since its inception, the air marshal agency has been plagued with embarrassing charges of misconduct. The ranking member of that house committee, Democrat Elijah Cummings of Maryland, says that it appears the managers of the Chicago air marshal office acted appropriately."

http://abc7chicago.com/news/scandal-in-the-sky-federal-air-marshals-dialing-for-prostitutes/987999/

[aligncare]

In the private sector, if you don't do your job, you don't get paid or you get fired.

If you work for the New York City Parks Department, you can get paid for doing nothing all day. I see the abuse every day on my run.

[Fishrrman]

In da obama a-minustrashun, you don' eeen hav' ta be touchin' de tar baby to be stuck -- all you got to do iz to get close to it!

An' ev'rybody be stickin' to it!