From WISH-TV:
A former Social Security Administration employee has been charged with one count of wire fraud after officials say he defrauded the organization for over three years. …
According to court documents, Christopher Markham, 40, had been employed by the administration and assigned to an office in Anderson.
Between February 2019, and June 2022, documents say Markham “made it appear” he was teleworking his full-time job for the SSA during regular workdays. But instead, he was working as a home inspector for his own company, Markham Inspection Services.
Markham continued to collect his full federal salary and benefits from the SSA at the time, attorneys said.
The release says Markham “routinely” performed home inspections, making it appear as though he was teleworking while working for the SSA, while hiding that he was not performing administrative work by allowing his wife and mother access to his Social Security Administration computer to send emails. …
The article says he defrauded SSA of about $49K. Public records show he was a GS-11 employee during this entire period which would suggest he was a claims specialist. Over a 3 year period he was paid over $200K. Could someone appear to do their SSA job for 3 years while only working about 3/4ths of the time? Possibly if he was very good. The way the piece is written it makes it appear he didn't do any work for those 3 years which seems at odds with the $49K fraud figure. I find that scenario of no work for 3 years impossible as a CS in a field office. But someone not fully working from home, taking about 2 hours off per day to do other work, seems possible.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, deplorable behavior.
This is very unlikely working at a field office or tele service center. It’s very hard to have your spouse call and take claims. And telework did not exist in the field prior to march of 2020. The article is wrong
ReplyDelete@214 The full article says the wife sent emails, not that she took claims. I'd guess they were emails that may have been sent to disguise the fact her spouse wasn't home and/or to respond to management emails somewhat timely for the same reason.
DeleteThe article and public records show a Christopher Markham worked in the Anderson IN office which appears to be a field office.
Telework didn't exist in the field until 2020 but the article also says he took FMLA claiming he was sick and leave to take care of his children who were in daycare so perhaps the first year of fraud was not via telework.
The full article has some pertinent information not included on this page.
ReplyDeleteLooks like fake news to me. Virtually impossible for this to happen.
In my office the managers monitor our workload and send out Emails several times a day about which cases have been processed, and which are left to do. If someone went even 1/2 of one day without cases being processed that would be a red flag, and that person would receive an inquiry from the manager.
If you have ever dealt with the management in Anderson then you would quickly realize why institutional control/monitoring was non-existent.
DeleteHow many records were compromised by the wife, mother and employee? How do we know that emails were only sent? I’m also wondering if SSA will notify all the claimants who applied with this individual? Many employees abuse teleworking and SSA is no different. SSA management is mandated to do surprise visits from time to time but that hasn’t happened.
ReplyDeleteSounds like management wasn’t doing their job if they didn’t notice he wasn’t at his computer for 3 years.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/pr/former-social-security-administration-employee-facing-federal-charges-fraudulent
ReplyDeleteFrom the DOJ press release above, it sounds like the fraudulent activity was probably intermittent which likely allowed it to be undetected for so long.
The majority of the claimed financial loss was almost certainly time sheet fraud involving 53 pay periods combined with the pandemic emergency paid leave fraudulently claimed for childcare. The FMLA leave was unpaid, so while being a serious issue it wouldn't have necessarily caused a financial loss to the agency. Altogether, this would track with the relatively low claimed loss over essentially a 3 year 4 month period.
Hope he at least spends some time in jail over this in addition to restitution.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds less like a telework issue and more of a problem with the employee. Many reasonable accommodations are requested by trouble employees in an attempt to evade monitoring and supervision by management. Like others have posted, telework was not happening during part of this and those doing work are micromanaged to hell and back.
This guy was a bad apple to begin with and the blame should be on management not clearing him out; not focusing on the telework aspect.
SSA employees turn a blind eye on the shortcomings of telework. Would this employee be out of the office for long periods of time without someone noticing? Is this individual going to bring his mother and wife to to the office to send emails?
DeleteManagers manage whether employees are onsite or teleworking. This is a good warning for employees, especially teleworkers and permanently outstationed employees, who manage businesses like websites, property management, mobile commercial establishments (pet grooming, nail/eyelash salons, food trucks, etc.), authors, consulting, coaching. It's hard to imagine how anyone can give 100% at this agency and have the energy left to manage a business in their "spare" time. It would be good to know the percent of SSA employees that report "other employment" or "outside activities" compared to other agencies.
ReplyDeleteAt the DDS in Ohio, claims supervisors are open about side hustles. One training supervisor routinely checks his phone throughout the day to reply to questions about his eBay store. Management is aware of this and allows it. The state IG referred it back to the DDS legal to investigate and it was buried.
DeleteManagement is the problem, as they can circle the wagons or act.
This DDS has a long history of retaliation against employees who speak out or even request accommodations (which led to a lawsuit). It’s only a matter of time before more incidents are revealed, unfortunately.
Yeah, it wasn't he wasn't actually working, it was that he was not working occasionally when he claimed he was, and did so intermittently over a 3 year period. That's why the fraud amount isn't the same as 3 years of full time fraud. A day here, a day there, or maybe an afternoon here or there, enough of the workday completed for spouse to eliminate alerts by responding to emails. I recall a few similar cases back in the day when it was work at home by exception, as well as timesheet fraud, usually re: overtime.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI’m more productive working at home. It is absolutely absurd and illogical to suggest that SSA telework should be cut, due to a single case, due to one bad apple.
@726 PM I was more productive too because I wasn't being called on to help the front end, answer calls or just not being interrupted. BUT, someone else has to take care of all those interruptions as those are the public seeking information or assistance. So while each person may seem to be more productive at home the agency isn't. Look at the numbers. Is the agency more productive now than it was 5 years ago. Not close.
DeleteLmao the agency also has less employees than 5 years ago. Less employees is less employees. Doesn’t matter if they are working at home or from the office, there’s just not enough people to do the work regardless.
DeleteI’m more productive at home!
ReplyDeleteThis isn’t Burger King where you have it your way. You are an employee of the federal government and the taxpayers pay your salary. The agency needs more employees in the office to serve the public or get another line of work.
Why so angry? And if I pay taxes, don’t I pay my own salary? Thanks, have a great day!!!
DeleteIs that like a circular firing squad? You are not self employed!
DeleteSure I am if tax payers pay my salary.
DeleteThe government is wasting far more money owning or leasing and maintaining property that isn’t needed. If people can work from home, they should and the government should get rid of real estate that is no longer needed. Only people who need to be face to face should be going into offices.
DeleteHis mother is/was a TE at the Kokomo, IN office as of last FY. I wonder if she was disciplined?
ReplyDeleteFamily values at its best!
DeleteCouldn't he have also been in violation of the rule that employees have to get approval before getting an additional job?
DeleteHis mom should be suspended for some period and fired, depending on how involved she was.
Why doesn’t Congress pass legislation to increase staffing at SSA?
ReplyDeleteLawmakers have struck a deal to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, key negotiators announced early Monday as they unveiled a $105 billion measure that will lead to the hiring of thousands of new air traffic controllers.
Lots of veterans get hired as air traffic controllers, and their work helps corporate airlines. If either or both of those things were true of SSA, you’d see similar boosts to its budget.
Delete'
ReplyDeleteEveryone should have to be onsite at least one day per week at SSA.. Managers and other employees will pick up on it if someone is having big personal problems which could affect their performance, or lead them down the wrong road.
But in Baltimore HQ there should be no further cuts to telework due to the collapse of the Key Bridge. I have to drive from the other side of town to get to SSA HQ and traffic has become much worse. The Baltimore Beltway, Harbor Tunnel, and Ft. McHenry tunnel are backed up every morning and evening now. Because commuters who used to take the Key Bridge are taking these alternative routes.
Expecting HQ employees to come into the office like everyone else is a bridge too far…
Delete@7:17am,
ReplyDeletePlus, while lots of folks die waiting on SSA to get around to doing its thing, they are quiet deaths that nobody beyond their immediate families notice. News coverage is usually absent.
OTOH, hundreds of people dying in a plane crash with the associated news optics (not to mention Boeing's current frackups) make much more of an immediate impact for demonstrating FAA's needs as an agency.
Thirty thousand people died while waiting for Social Security disability determinations during fiscal 2023, the Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley told Nextgov/FCW in a recent interview.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a grim statistic for an agency undergoing what O’Malley describes as a “customer service crisis” induced by a lack of adequate funding and associated staffing woes
ReplyDeleteFor myself, I'm out of SSA if there are any further cuts to my telework. I qualify for retirement and I'm walking if I have to commute any more than I do.
Plus I'm used to staying home now and I'm not giving that up after 4 years. The reality is that many SSA employees will leave if there are cuts to telework. That should be part of the equation. It takes years to learn to do many of these jobs, and it will be difficult to deal with a lot of departures at once.
@837 I thought everyone was going to leave two years ago when full telework was ended. Some people may leave if telework is reduced or ended but the agency may be better off long term without employees who value being home more than working and public service.
DeleteI enjoyed working from home too. It should have lasted much less time than it did. But I was hired to provide public service in an office, not to take advantage of a pandemic to stay at home forever.
Please remember that many SSA employees have fully portable work and have zero face-to-face contact with the public. We can serve the public in our support roles quite capably from any location.
DeleteAlso, a lot of us are watched like hawks by management, even virtually. I'm an OHO decision writer, and for us specifically, we get put on a performance plan and telework gets suspended for a year if we don't meet our productivity requirements. It's not like teleworking SSA employees are just sitting on the couch all day thumbing their noses at the public.
"Anonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete@214 The full article says the wife sent emails, not that she took claims. I'd guess they were emails that may have been sent to disguise the fact her spouse wasn't home and/or to respond to management emails somewhat timely for the same reason.
The article and public records show a Christopher Markham worked in the Anderson IN office which appears to be a field office.
Telework didn't exist in the field until 2020 but the article also says he took FMLA claiming he was sick and leave to take care of his children who were in daycare so perhaps the first year of fraud was not via telework.
The full article has some pertinent information not included on this page.
3:37 PM, April 27, 2024"
Actually there was a TW pilot that ran from the mid 2010s until late 2019 (IIRC). Less than 5% of FOs were in the pilot and it usually consisted of TW one day/week.