MARYLAND NEWS

Without access to IT system data and financial records, the Office of the Inspector General cannot effectively identify and prevent waste, fraud and abuse in city government, the board says. [One of the members is a CFE.] Source: BaltimoreBrew and https://www.baltimorecity.gov/inspector-general/position-paper-access-to-records

The Maryland Secretary of State, responsible for regulating charities, many of which receive taxpayer funds, sent almost 9,000 notices for delinquent or incomplete registrations in fiscal 2025. Two of the recipients are set to receive millions of dollars from Baltimore City’s opioid restitution fund; another is an organization in which the wife of the Baltimore Mayor is listed as an executive. Source: BaltimoreSun.com

Source:TheBanner.com

Nearly two dozen people across the state have transferred funds, cryptocurrency and gold bars to impostors, said Montgomery County officials and FBI agents.

At a news conference Monday alongside Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy and FBI Baltimore Field Office Special Agent Jeremy Capello, the victims shared their stories. Their last names are not being used to protect their identities.

Through coordinated investigative efforts, law enforcement traced the scams reported by victims in Montgomery County, Maryland, to extensive international scam call center operations in India that had been targeting Americans since 2022. Those scam call centers were dismantled by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in December 2025 leading to CBI arresting six Indian nationals who led the illegal criminal syndicates. Source: TheBanner.com, WTOP.com, and FBI.gov 

The Baltimore Mayor and his law department are making bogus claims to deny the Inspector General access to records needed for her watchdog role. Source BaltimoreBrew.com

Spotlight on Maryland obtained more than 100 documents from the Maryland Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) through an open records request…In one internal meeting summary, officials warned that the unlicensed assisted living industry was “getting worse” and referred to some operators as “fraudsters.” Source: foxbaltimore.com/spotlight-on-maryland

The “Terps coach” that extended the offers — “Andrew Green” — doesn’t exist. It all came from a fake X account posing as a Terps staffer…Screenshots shared on X appeared to show the account requesting $30 through Cash App for help in the recruiting process. Source: Baltimore Sun via sports.yahoo.com

Source: BaltimoreSun.com Editorial

The Office of the Inspector General receives hundreds of tips and complaints from the public every year. Isabel Cumming and her team dig into the problems raised, and sometimes those tips turn into investigations and reports. Typically, the details of those investigations and tips are kept to a small circle of people to protect sensitive information.

However, Cumming said it’s been days since the “gatekeeper” in her office has been able to track who has been looking at what her office is doing. Source: foxbaltimore.com

"It's shocking," (I.G. Isabel Mercedes) Cumming told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren as she held up some heavily redacted documents. "Cash app $102. I can't tell you who paid it. $500 here. I can't tell you where the money went, just pages that I don't even know what it is." Source: 

According to a January 24, 2026 news release from the Mayor’s office, “the City's Law Department discovered an unauthorized account had access to their files, including those protected by the confidential attorney-client and work-product privileges…The Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct require lawyers to assure confidential and privileged communications for clients…Removal of this access will not impede the lawful work of the Office of the Inspector General.”

The I.G. disagreed. Source: cbsnews.com/baltimore  and Mayor's January 24, 2026 press release.