Misuse of funds by city employees at two agencies is now part of widening investigation by city Inspector General Hilton Green into employee theft.
On the heels of a conviction of a city employee for stealing cash out of an account used to maintain downtown’s War Memorial Plaza, Green said he has uncovered other cases of fraud involving additional city employees.
“Honestly I’m shocked at what I’m finding,” said Green in a phone interview Wednesday.
“We’re looking in misuse of petty cash and other situations were city employees have been misusing city money,” said Green.
The probe is focused on unauthorized checks drawn on city accounts and cashed at check-cashing businesses throughout the city for personal use, Green said. The check-cashing businesses, which Green declined to name, are cooperating with the investigators. But citing the ongoing investigation, Green declined to provide more specifics of the probe, including the agencies involved.
“Right now I can’t say anything more, only that this type of behavior may be more widespread than we originally thought,” he said.
The widening probe comes after city employee Nikki Cooper on Sept. 26 was found guilty of 20 counts of forgery and two counts of felony theft. The charges came after Green discovered that Cooper had written $5,000 worth of checks from a fund used to maintain the city’s War Memorial for personal use. The judge sentenced Cooper to five years probation and ordered her to pay restitution, an outcome that Green said is a win for the city.
“The main thing is she was terminated and the city is getting its money back.”
Meanwhile, Green said, two city employees accused of stealing $50,000 of copper wire out of City Hall have been fired and possible criminal charges are pending.
Similar to the petty cash theft, Green said the probe of the copper theft has led to a broadening investigation into city property being sold to junkyards.
“We’re finding stuff clearly marked Baltimore City government property. We’re going to look at that as well,” Green said.
“If it’s city property we’re going to start looking at prosecuting some junk yards for receiving it.”
