Inspector general official facing multiple fraud charges

A high-ranking official in the D.C. office that investigates fraud and waste has been charged with fraud herself in an elaborate scheme to hire a former baby sitter into the agency. Deputy Assistant Inspector General Cheryl L. Ferrara was charged with mail fraud, making a false statement, aiding and abetting, and fraud in the second degree. Ferrara was charged last week, and court documents were made public Tuesday.

Ferrara, who worked in the Audit Division of the Office of the Inspector General, was also the treasurer of the Association of Inspectors General, a national organization founded, according to its mission statement, to “promote public accountability and integrity” in the prevention and prosecution of “fraud, waste, and abuse.”