Malloy Forwards Names of 15 Workers To Agency Heads For Possible Termination
by Hugh McQuaid | Dec 7, 2011 2:42pm
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Posted to: Labor, State Capitol
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Gov. Dannel P. Malloy
(Updated 3:51 p.m.) Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Wednesday afternoon that his administration will be handing over a list of 15 employees who it believes may have committed fraud by misreporting their incomes, and in one case claiming a deceased relative lived in their house, to get post-Irene benefits.
“Based on my administration’s investigation, it appears clear that the abuses of public trust involved go beyond simply lying about income,” Malloy said in statement. “In some instances, people lied about assets under their control or even listed a deceased relative as living in the household. Given the information known to us, these were not oversights or honest mistakes. This was outright fraud, and it will not stand.”
As a result of the Department of Social Services’ initial review of applications, “they have referred 15 of them to commissioners for administrative hearings pursuant to procedures established by law and relevant contracts,” he said.
“We are not waiting for any type of state of federal prosecution before we take administrative action,” said Andrew McDonald, Malloy’s chief legal counsel.
Malloy has promised that the employees who committed fraud would be terminated from state service. He didn’t advocate for the revocation of their pensions, which is possible under a 2008 state law. The names of the workers and which departments they work in were not shared with the media.
The state was in charge of administering $12.4 million in D-SNAP, the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funded by the federal government after Tropical Storm Irene.
Malloy revealed on Sunday that some of the 800 state employees who applied for the program didn’t qualify for it based on their income and may have fraudulently received benefits.
“If that proves to be the case, we will take steps earnestly, quickly, swiftly, and severely,” Malloy said.
McDonald said the list will be shared with state and federal prosecutors if they ask for it.
Earlier this week a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency that funds the program, said it worked because the state is responsible for pursuing recipient fraud. And Malloy said that’s exactly what happened. As soon as the problem was discovered it was shared with the media.
But Malloy said it’s his goal to increase response time to this type fraud.
The governor opined it’s possible the incidents could have been caught sooner if the Department of Social Services, the agency that administered the benefits, was not operating with outdated technology.
“That’s a department that oversees somewhere between 16 and 18 percent of total expenditures operating on an IT platform that has the effective date of 1989 and which is not loaded properly to help discern, pick up and identify corruption and fraud,” he said.
Overhauling DSS should be the state’s top infrastructure priority, Malloy said. He said he was proud of the way Department of Social Services Commissioner Roderick Bremby was conducting himself.
However, he said it was an embarrassment for Connecticut that people who work for the state would abuse a program designed to provide relief to people who have suffered losses. The governor said he expected the list of names to be released to both state and federal prosecutors by the end of the day Wednesday.
According to federal guidelines, someone applying for the benefits must provide verification of their identity, residency and loss or inaccessibility of income where possible. State agencies must also verify household composition and food loss if questionable.
Malloy said he suspected some people collecting the benefits did not fully disclose their income and claimed dependents or other people living in homes that were not actually living there at the time.
Malloy acknowledged that people other than state employees likely abused the program but said he is focusing on state workers for the time being.
“We’re concentrating on state employees because it’s not only having broken the law, but it’s this violation of the trust,” he said.
Larry Dorman, spokesman for AFSCME Council 4, said the union takes the allegations of fraud seriously but said “the focus should be on fraud, period,” rather than just state employees.
“I think anyone who knowingly defrauded the SNAP program, whether they were state employees or not, should be held accountable,” he said. “Hard-working dedicated state employees are the ones working to uncover the incidents of fraud.”
Dorman said the allegations highlight the need for more funding to DSS’s fraud investigations division.
On Tuesday, WTNH reported that an unnamed source within DSS’s Fraud Division said the agency has been ignoring fraud for years due to staffing shortages. After Irene employees were instructed to approve everyone who applied for benefits after Irene, that person said.
Malloy said he was concerned by the report and encouraged anyone with information about fraud to come forward and take advantage of the state’s Whistleblower protections.
“I can assure that my administration will take those kinds of reports very seriously. They will be investigated,” he said.
Tags: SNAP, fraud, state employees, malloy, Andrew McDonald, Irene, Hugh McQuaid
(27) Comments
posted by: Martha H | December 7, 2011 4:24pm
Just because this “scandal” involves only a handful of state employee & a miniscule percentage of program funds does NOT mean we should pass up on this (or any!) opportunity to scapegoat every government employee (=unions) & renew the clarion call for corporate takeover of all remaining gov’t functions…
(Does it?)
posted by: newview | December 7, 2011 8:12pm
The State’s whistleblower protections are a complete and relentless joke! CHRO (Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities) has effectively been shut down by this Administration! And, I dare say, CHRO was all but wiped out by the threat of layoff a short time ago. There are no public/settlement hearings scheduled, and that protection process would be the result of any reasonably substantiated claims of retaliatory actions taken by others as a result of whistleblowing and/or protected actions taken by state employees.
http://www.ct.gov/chro/lib/chro/OPH_Notice_of_Suspension.pdf
If this Administration is serious about making assurances to State Employees and protections as a result of reporting fraud, abuse, abuses of power, illegal activity, retaliatory actions, threats of adverse personnel actions, etc, then this Administration should step up to the plate and make assurances that related Agencies are fully functional and are available to hear cases in a timely and professional manner….end of story..do it!!
Or is this whistleblowing realization a little much to digest?
posted by: tier-1 st empl | December 7, 2011 10:53pm
To Martha H:
By your comment, are you of the opinion that there is no fraud in the corporate world?
posted by: perturbed | December 7, 2011 11:47pm
Okay, I’ve taken all I can from this Malloy guy. From Rowland we got the infantile coffee-cup-holder-in-the-plow-truck attack. But from Malloy, we state employees are getting slammed in a much more nuanced—and far more damaging—way. Does Malloy hate state employees more than even Johnny Rowland?
I’m not understanding this blanket call for termination of guilty state employees. I’m just not getting it at all.
The way I see this, two things matter when justifying the termination an employee for breaking the law: 1) the seriousness of the offense; and 2) the relationship of the offense to the job. (How does state employment status figure into this?)
If a building maintainer at an insurance company gets a traffic ticket, should that maintenance worker be fired? What about a maintainer at the state Department of Public Works. Should that worker be fired? The answer, I would hope, in each case is “no.” The offense is neither very serious, nor is it related to the job.
What if a building maintainer at an insurance company was found guilty of tax evasion, and had to pay a steep fine? Should that employee be fired? Probably not? What about an accountant at a large accounting firm guilty of the same crime? Probably? And a professional employee of the Department of Revenue Services? Certainly?
So one question is, how serious an offense is the alleged fraud? Will it typically involve incarceration, or simply a repayment of the assistance received, with penalties? (I really don’t know what these people are facing.)
The next question is, what is the relationship of each person’s job to the offense? Should that building maintainer at an insurance company lose their job over such an offense? If not, why on earth would it be appropriate for a maintainer at the state DPW to lose their job for the same offense?
If a DSS employee is found guilty of this fraud, now that’s a different situation. Termination would seem appropriate. But in that case, the primary justification would be the direct relationship of the crime to the worker’s job, not the simple fact that the worker happened to be employed by the state.
I’m now convinced Malloy despises state employees.
—perturbed
posted by: ... | December 8, 2011 9:22am
Perturbed: Are you really trying to justify state employee fraud in a federal aid program shouldn’t put them on immediate termination, or at least suspension without pay? Even those who have admitted they did it? Generally, forging your doctor’s signature on prescription medicines you don’t need is misdemeanor fraud. Defrauding a federal program is a felony right off the bat if the case is pursued in court.
But even with a misdemeanor, having a criminal record raises so many flags and issues for hiring in the state. You know why? Because it proves that person has an issue of moral character, especially with fraud. If they are willing to hide assets or claim a deceased person lives in their home for more cash, there may be a history we don’t know about, or the potential for other cases of fraud to continue from that same person.
You should find answers rather than question everything. A lot of the same would happen in a private sector case of defrauding a company, depending on the size and scope of the company and the level of fraud (monetary or otherwise).
They find the DSS has been under-performing in reviewing or pursuing fraud cases and other issues because of staffing shortages. To think perturbed that Malloy is going too far with state workers on a federal crime after a major tropical storm recovery? That honestly perturbs me more than your conspiracies/fears of groundless anti-unionism among the Malloy administration.
posted by: Scott2014 | December 8, 2011 10:32am
perturbed - I think they should be fired. There is a certain public trust that was broken, in addition to ethics laws and theft. They stole money from their employer (the state) by way of false information (fraud). Any company would fire you.
posted by: Martha H | December 8, 2011 11:13am
To tier-1 st empl:
By your comment, are you of the opinion that I might actually debate with a sockpuppet?
posted by: NOW What? | December 8, 2011 12:36pm
Perturbed - In truth, in saying that any State employees who get caught having engaged in such fraudulent activities will be both fired and prosecuted, Malloy isn’t saying ANYTHING that isn’t already required by way of State laws and personnel regs… his public comments are merely for the general public’s consumption, if you know what I mean. So I wouldn’t worry about it too much, but we DO have to pressure him to investigate such fraud among NON-State employees as well.
posted by: Careful | December 8, 2011 9:24pm
MARTHA H: Don’t believe that this “scandal” only involves a handful of employees—until the investigarion is complete.
They haven’t scratched the surface of the fraud scenario yet.
posted by: perturbed | December 8, 2011 10:18pm
@jonessAC12,
I don’t mind you disagreeing with me, and I didn’t articulate my opinions clearly, but please don’t put words in my mouth.
I never claimed—on this page or any other—that Malloy is anti-union. Quite the contrary—any conspiracy I’ve identified in the past (months ago now) is the conspiracy of Malloy with the unions, not against them. (In case you haven’t noticed, the unions and state employees aren’t getting along very well lately.) But in response to this article, I don’t see any conspiracy. Malloy can’t conspire with himself. Where are you getting that?
Here’s another statement that perturbed me: “You should find answers rather than question everything.” (?!) If I had the time to do all my own investigations and research for news events, why would I ever read these pages? Isn’t that what reporters are supposed to help us with?
For example, do you know where the funding came from, 100% federal or a combination of state and federal? Isn’t that little detail important to the story? Are we all expected to read this for a head start, and then go out and fill in the rest of the important facts on our own later? (I had assumed the funding was 100% federal. In that case, why is a private worker committing fraud against the federal government somehow held to a lower standard than a state worker committing fraud against the federal government?)
So let me make my opinion clear: Everybody, state employee or not, should be prosecuted for fraud if there is evidence they committed it. The main issue I have with Malloy going way out of his way to turn this into a state employee scandal is that we should be just as outraged by the private worker committing fraud against the federal government as we are about a state worker (who, let’s assume, had absolutely nothing to do with the administration of the federal Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) committing fraud against the federal government. I resent that the state employee is somehow held to a higher standard than any other citizen of this country.
Do you honestly think there should be harsher legal consequences for, I don’t know, let’s say a state employed biologist that committed this fraud than for a biologist working for a pharmaceutical company that committed the very same fraud? (And if a privately employed biologist is found guilty of fraud against the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, will that worker be summarily terminated?)
—perturbed
posted by: perturbed | December 8, 2011 10:27pm
@NOW What? (and yes, I still remember your first name—maybe I’ll change my name to “SLASHED by 20%”),
I’ve seen instances of “personnel regs” being applied in a draconian fashion—state workers being terminated for offenses that would not cause termination in the private sector, for violations of the law that have absolutely nothing to do with the workers’ jobs or general moral character. I suspected then (under Rell) that it was a thinly veiled attempt to further cull the ranks of state employees without controversy.
I view Malloy’s new public opinion campaign against state workers in a similar manner. There is no real justification to single them out, unless they had something to do with the administration of the aid program (in which case their actions would warrant all Malloy’s wrath). Otherwise, is a guilty state worker somehow more guilty than a guilty private worker?
—perturbed
posted by: ... | December 8, 2011 11:48pm
My apologies if I did come off as putting words in your mouth. This was what alluded me to your opinion though: “Does Malloy hate state employees more than even Johnny Rowland?” To me, that is what I heard all summer from state employees calling on conspiracies and anti-Malloy rhetoric because of the union deal. But once again, apologies for jumping to conclusions.
But nonetheless. State employees are held to a higher regard (especially as we find out some of these people are high-earning workers) than perhaps a private-sector worker because they often have a better understanding of the state systems and programs than the average citizens. Especially as updates move through saying some of these people are high-earning workers. So they should be prosecuted equally under the law.
But our state hires people to work for it so that they work on behalf of all the people of CT. Stealing one dollar from the state is equal to stealing one dollar out of the pocket of your neighbors, friends, and families by engaging in fraudulent activities which state employees and their employers pay for. So sorry if I hold people who are working for millions in higher regard than some private sector workers. It is why I respect and hold firefighters and cops and soldiers to high regards. Because they could utilize their skills for private profit, but instead utilize them for public good.
As for the question I asked you. People are more than capable to find information from multiple sources online and in person on their own. To fall back on the information of newspapers and news websites is irresponsible. It literally took me only a couple minutes to find answers to a few things you asked. But you mostly asked hypothetical questions in rapid succession (which was pretty much rantish) before you came to a real question of concern. It is certainly fine to be curious of a particular detail, but when you place it through rhetoric, how do you expect people to take it seriously?
posted by: ocoandasoc | December 9, 2011 12:54am
If an employee of mine steals from a relative I might or might not fire him. But if he steals from me—he’s gone. If a government employee steals government money he should be fired. Period. It’s a matter of public trust.
posted by: perturbed | December 9, 2011 12:56am
No apology necessary. I was ranting. The fact that Malloy seems to have pounced on an opportunity to paint state employees with a broad brush of corruption is not in anyone’s interest but his. Maybe the dark Rowland years just left me too sensitive to playing the role of Official Governor’s Foil. (But to this day, I hold no ill will against Malloy for trying to wring benefits from state employees. That was his job. It’s his co-conspirators in the unions that I feel betrayed us.)
So you left out the answer to the most important question: Is the program 100% federally funded, or is it funded with some matching state funds? As far as I can tell, DSS administers the program on the state level, but the funding is all federal. Apparently I’m not very good with Google. And that should have been included in the article. (We have very different views on the role of the press.)
—perturbed
posted by: Martha H | December 9, 2011 8:37am
CAREFUL: See my next-to-last comment at: http://tinyurl.com/7e36v7c
posted by: Hebee | December 9, 2011 10:22am
The criminal and despicable behavior, of what is sure to be a lengthy list of future felons, highlights how truly wasteful these Government Give-Away Programs really are. They should have just thrown the money from a window on a tall building. No low income family (that requires Government Assistance) has $1000.00 worth of food in their freezer. What idiot came up with this fraud friendly program in the first place? This whole fiasco is just one more example of how incompetent our State and Federal Governments have become. We get higher and higher taxes and they burn the money on stupid and wasteful programs.
posted by: CT Libertarian | December 9, 2011 11:40am
The sad thing for tax payers is that getting caught doing something illegal is just about the only way to lose a State job.
posted by: Careful | December 9, 2011 12:25pm
Hebee: You tell the truth—“as you are not one of the bloodsuckers who have been draining our country, by grabbing every freebee they can steal from our already over-pilfered, federal piggy-bank!”
Only politicians who look for tainted votes from social benefit, free-loading recipients, and the free-loaders themselves, support this absolutely wasteful program that gives applicants an average $673, just for standing in line, without performing any public work services for the money. “It’s no wonder our country’s population is overweight. The only manual labor our country requires to get free money—is to merely stand in line!”
posted by: ... | December 9, 2011 1:10pm
Good for you Careful. I really didn’t think defrauding a federally funded disaster aid program could be possibly linked to obesity issues and the state of labor. But you are quite capable in your rants of accomplishing that goal. And for that, I applaud you for completely disregarding the aid given to coastal families who lost cars, electricity, and in some cases, even their homes who were applicants of this aid.
Perhaps you should rant about the state of humanity (empathy for your fellow citizen), and its rapid decline for monetary gains or ‘fiscal responsibility’ 
.
posted by: Careful | December 9, 2011 3:33pm
JonessAC12: I did not see any of these COASTAL FAMILIES, who lost autos, and some even their homes—standing in long lines - five across the sidewalk—waiting to claim their freebee checks at the New Haven Welfare office. Also, since these recipients are not required to perform any manual labor work to sign up for taxpayer paid—free allowance, they aren’t getting much exersize by standing in line, and do not have to worry about paying the doctor and hospital, from resulting a lack of physical activity—as taxpayers are paying their medical tab, also.
Of course, you disagree with everyone, Jonessey—“as you pretend to have all the answers.”
Why must you have to contest the opinions of a number of writers in this column? Perhaps you should be known as JonessONLY? Or are seeking to be the “Center of Attention?”
You are controversial!
posted by: ... | December 9, 2011 4:55pm
So wait Careful, you literally got to see the 74,230 people (23,726 households) who were in these lines for aid, differentiate them from coastal to non coastal, ask them how they were affected and if they had damage to property, and their overall conditions? Sounds like someone is claiming to have all the information .
But of course I don’t disagree with everyone Careful. Just disagreeable people and their often churlish opinions.
posted by: Hebee | December 9, 2011 7:18pm
JonessACC12, Are you be a current State Legislator? You sound just like one of our heroes in Hartford. Because some people actually needed aid doesn’t justify this fiasco. Unsupervised and obviously unqualified State Employees gave away Free Money without regard to need. If need was a criteria there would have been a computer or two at the “Free Money Disposal Site”. Federal money is still our money. This Program was a waste of our tax dollars and a National embarrassment for our State.
posted by: perturbed | December 10, 2011 10:09am
Here’s a question for anyone that has any information on this, including the author of the piece: Was there any state funding—any state money at all—involved in this program?
Thank you,
—perturbed
posted by: Careful | December 11, 2011 12:22pm
perturbed: You ask if state funding - any money at all—is involved with this program? The State Welfare Department, their facilities, and employees—are administering the distribution of this costly hand-out.
posted by: ... | December 11, 2011 8:30pm
Hey Perturbed: From what I can tell, total funding for D-SNAP goes through FEMA’s general fund, which means it is fully federally funded. These might be useful sources though for you to track down better wording of it:
https://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?fromSearch=fromsearch&id=3564
(this is a link to a downloadable pdf. file of the law D-SNAP is administered under)
This link from the USDA may also be of help for you: http://www.fns.usda.gov/disasters/response/D-SNAP_Handbook/guide.htm
I hope this helps you.
posted by: perturbed | December 12, 2011 12:38am
@Careful & jonesAC12,
Thank you both for your replies, both of which appear to be correct. The Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program does not appear to involve any state matching funds. It also seems doubtful that the payroll costs to administer the program by the DSS are reimbursed by the federal government. However, those administrative costs would be spent to staff the agency regardless of a small percentage of fraudulent applications.
Careful, your central argument seems to be that the very existence of the program is the crime. That’s a different discussion. This story is about fraudulent applications for the aid by state employees, and Malloy’s public treatment of his subordinates in response.
jonesAC12, if you are correct, why the lecture about “stealing one dollar from the state…?” That’s not what happened here. Any guilty state employees stole from the federal government, the same as any other guilty state resident. They didn’t steal from their “employer”. (Again, if any DSS employees used their positions to assist or perpetrate any fraud, they certainly deserve harsher punishment.) So whether termination of employment for this crime is appropriate is debatable. However, it should make no difference if it were committed by a state employee, a municipal employee, or an employee of a private company.
Furthermore, there’s no public value in rushing out to the press and prematurely highlighting only state executive branch government employees’ involvement before the the entire scope of the suspected fraud is known, and before it is verified. This is Malloy purposefully casting state employees in a negative light so that he can play sheriff. It doesn’t feel much different from Rowland’s tactics to me.
Invariably, this kind of cheap stunt makes it more difficult for all of us to do our jobs effectively, due to the negative public perception we will all suffer, and reduced morale. Apparently, Malloy isn’t above inflicting this damage if he thinks it will help him politically. This is a huge disappointment.
—perturbed
posted by: ... | December 12, 2011 9:11am
It was poor word choice, but my intent was that other people who were in need of aid (people of the state) were having money stolen from them from people who did not need. And yes, no matter their employment status, they’ll (hopefully) be treated equally under the law and before a judge.
I’m just going to stick away from debating Malloy’s response to keep things from getting uncivil. This might have been news that was on the brink of leaking out, and Malloy wanted to beat the newspapers. It might be more than that, as you argue. I’m not going to speculate much more however and start any other fights. The fact a 100k+ state trooper is amongst those who have defrauded a federal program for those he is meant to protect/serve has seriously disheartened me, and I just want to see the process continue.