I wonder how many generations down the line these people will still include the name "Kennedy" somewhere in their full name? How many more years of capital can they squeeze out of that name? I suppose it depends on the intelligence level of the voting rabble.
Officers paid for work not done, U.S. says (Maryland)
Staples official pleads guilty to role in scheme; City, Balto. Co. police involved; No other charges placed; internal action possible
By Gail Gibson and Del Quentin Wilber Sun Staff
Originally published June 1, 2002
Federal prosecutors said yesterday that "over 39" off-duty Baltimore area police officers were paid by Staples Inc. for security work they never performed, as the first and only figure to be charged in a two-year moonlighting investigation pleaded guilty.
None of the officers - some of whom made as much as $40,000 in the scheme - faces criminal charges, although they could be disciplined internally by police officials in Baltimore and Baltimore County.
Instead, the lone defendant in the case was Michael Hollander, 37, a former loss prevention manager with the office supply chain. At his initial appearance yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Hollander pleaded guilty to a single count of mail fraud and admitted his role in organizing a moonlighting scheme that cost the company more than $348,000.
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Manuelian for the first time publicly outlined the scheme at the center of a lengthy FBI investigation that roiled the ranks of local police and ended with a split between local FBI officials and federal prosecutors.
According to Manuelian's account and court records filed yesterday, Hollander was authorized to hire off-duty police officers to help provide security for Staples branches in the area. Terry Hooper, an assistant to Hollander, was assigned to hire the officers. Hooper is not charged in the case.
Beginning in 1997, Hooper and Hollander "devised a scheme whereby Hooper would engage officers to 'work' at designated Staples stores, and Hollander would 'schedule' them, but the officers would not actually have to work," prosecutors said in court records.
"They would simply submit time sheets to Hollander for his signature, and Hollander would sign them, causing Staples to pay these 'ghost' employees at rates of between $18 and $22 per hour," the records show.
Some of the so-called ghost security officers made as much as $40,000 - "with no requirement that they work at all," prosecutors said in court records - while others received as little as $1,000. Prosecutors did not say how, or if, Hollander and Hooper profited from the scheme.
Almost all of the officers were members of the city police force, authorities have said.
U.S. Attorney Thomas M. DiBiagio has declined to discuss publicly why no one else was charged in the case. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The long-running case has frustrated local police officials and union leaders, who had expressed concerns that it had stretched on for too long without charges being filed. The allegations in court yesterday only further perplexed Gary McLhinney, president of the city police union.
"At one point, the U.S. attorneys say they don't have enough evidence to prosecute police officers. But they are now accusing them of wrongdoing," McLhinney said. "I just think the FBI has wasted a tremendous amount of resources. As far as we're concerned, the investigation is over."
Federal prosecutors told police officials as much in February, but the case didn't end there. In a highly unusual move, FBI agents in Baltimore then appealed to the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts to look at the case after first consulting with FBI officials in Washington.
Prosecutors in Massachusetts could have claimed jurisdiction over the case because Staples is based in Framingham, Mass., just outside Boston. They declined to do so.
What remained of the fizzled investigation was the single charge against Hollander, worked out in a plea deal that was signed in July but remained secret until yesterday. Hollander, who lives in Marlton, N.J., and earns about $3,000 a month working at a tavern, is scheduled to be sentenced July 18 by U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson.
Defense attorney Gary A. Ticknor of Baltimore said yesterday that his client fully expected others would be charged when he began cooperating with federal authorities a year ago. But Ticknor said the plea agreement was a good resolution for his client, who had signed all of the timesheets that authorized payment to the officers.
Ticknor also acknowledged that prosecutors would have faced a difficult task in bringing charges against the officers involved. Many of them had said, through their attorneys, that they did report to work - patrolling store parking lots, for instance, even if they did not punch a time clock.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris said yesterday that internal affairs investigators are reviewing FBI files to see if they can bring any disciplinary action. Bill Toohey, a Baltimore County police spokesman, declined to comment on the status of any internal review.
However, Toohey noted that the prosecutors did not identify any of the officers involved or allege any specific illegal action: "The fact is, we've not been presented with anything in this document that would link our officers to any illegal activity."
Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun