The Briefing Room
General Category => Politics/Government => Topic started by: happyg on February 27, 2014, 03:33:28 pm
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By Luke Rosiak
Officials in two Treasury Department bureaus fraudulently enriched themselves at taxpayer expense, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.
The assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Public Debt who supervised 108 employees in the bureau's West Virginia office “was committing egregious time and attendance fraud," depriving taxpayers of nearly $100,000 in salary for hours she did not work, according to one of several Treasury Department inspector general documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, most of which had previously gone unreported.
The official, despite being paid an average yearly salary of nearly $170,000, "arrives at work approximately two hours late and/or takes two-hour lunch breaks and departs work at approximately 4:00 P.M. and does not take leave," and "consistently conducts personal business involving the Humane Society during work hours," IG investigators found after verifying a tip from an employee who said the top official "abuses her power by being absent whenever desired."
Her supervisor, the deputy commissioner, knew about the absences but did nothing, the investigators said.
“In approximately 2007,” investigators wrote, the assistant commissioner became vice president of a Humane Society chapter, and another BPD employee became president, according to the report.
The website of the Humane Society of Parkersburg, W.Va., lists Debbie Hines as vice president and Carrie J. Roe as president.
Federal pay records show that Hines was paid $168,453 in 2012 as assistant commissioner for public debt accounting, and Roe received approximately $144,000 as director of business technology for the BPD.
It is not clear whether either woman still works for the federal government. A current “executive management” listing on the BPD website does not include Hines.
Hines was “absent without leave” approximately 1,200 hours over four years, according to timesheet records based on scans of her employee identification badge's entry and exit from her workplace. An official work year in the federal civil service is 2,087 hours.
Hines "owes BPD a total of 1,218.77 hours from 2009 to 2012, or approximately $97,832.96 in salary. [Her] supervisor, [the] deputy commissioner, BPD, was aware of [her] varied hours, and an anonymous complaint sent to BPD management regarding [her] time and attendance, but stated that she was not overly concerned about [her] hours because [she] is a stellar employee,” investigators wrote.
Her supervisor worked in an office 300 miles away in Washington, D.C., and said Hines was a "good leader" who handles "politically sensitive and time sensitive work," but that she occasionally had trouble reaching her.
When interviewed for the Hines investigation, Roe, who holds the federal employee classification of GS-15, admitted to missing 346 hours, which, at a salary of $69 per hour, not including benefits, amounted to $23,874.
More of article at link:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2544743 (http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2544743)
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The entire federal government is a cess pool and public sector union represented government employees are at the bottom of the pool!
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The entire federal government is a cess pool and public sector union represented government employees are at the bottom of the pool!
now you're just being unfair to cess pools! :silly:
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The entire federal government is a cess pool and public sector union represented government employees are at the bottom of the pool!
It's not much better at the state level, either. Government workers ... meh.
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It's not much better at the state level, either. Government workers ... meh.
are you kidding me? even though the numbers may be smaller, in general, the state folks make the federal folks look like a bunch of altar boys and girls.
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are you kidding me? even though the numbers may be smaller, in general, the state folks make the federal folks look like a bunch of altar boys and girls.
In New York perhaps but not true everywhere by any means.
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are you kidding me? even though the numbers may be smaller, in general, the state folks make the federal folks look like a bunch of altar boys and girls.
The state folks nevah ever nevah get caught. But when they do it is a shocker.
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In New York perhaps but not true everywhere by any means.
NY is certainly a cesspool, but middling level corruption is probably one of the most widespread, bipartisan activities of state/local government. I was once acquainted with someone who used to refuel his diesel truck at the bus depot for the local town bus system, where he just happened to work. Not all the time, but every so often. Corrupt? Yes. Did I report it? No, because he was friends with the supervisor.
As an aside, 'cause it seems to come up every so often: I have no emotional investment in NY; I'm a Virginian who happened to fall in love with a very beautiful NYer who simply will not leave the state where she was born and grew up. American by birth, Southern by the grace of God, part of the southern diaspora for love.
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Let's not forget city employees. They regularly take home "goods" and "supplies" from which ever city department they work. Some taxpayers even get the honor of being gouged at city, county, state AND federal levels. Like Yakov Smirnoff used to say, "America! I love it."