According to a report released by the Baltimore County Office of the Inspector General (OIG), a Bureau of Highways employee committed time and attendance fraud. The investigation was initiated after an anonymous tip was received.

The OIG report states that the employee, whose duties included maintaining time and attendance records for employees at one of the Highway Shops as well as their own, engaged in fraudulent activities during at least the 2022-2023 timeframe.

Specifically, the employee submitted 27 different leave slips that were approved by their supervisor under the belief that the employee had actually taken leave. However, the employee failed to record this leave time in the county’s official timekeeping system.

As a result, the employee’s leave balances were never properly reduced for those 27 occurrences, allowing them to essentially accrue and use leave time fraudulently according to the findings.

Inspector General Kelly Madigan announced the release of the investigative report today. A copy of the full report along with the administration’s response can be accessed through the provided link.

This case highlights the importance of proper oversight and auditing of time and attendance systems to detect and prevent instances of fraud by employees entrusted with record-keeping responsibilities within government agencies.