MARYLAND NEWS

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.

Should Maryland establish an independent statewide inspector general to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse across government? Source: Baltimore Sun

Multiple state and federal entities are investigating whistleblower allegations of payment errors in Maryland’s food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Source: Baltimore S

A 43-year-old Glen Burnie, Maryland, man was arrested and charged in a federal indictment for stealing approximately 240 government cell phones, valued at over $150,000, from the U.S. House of Representatives. As a system administrator, he was authorized to order cell phones for Committee staff members. He allegedly used his position in 2023 to cause 240 new government cell phones to be shipped directly to his home in Maryland.

As part of the scheme, he allegedly directed an employee at a pawn shop  to sell the phones only “in parts” to bypass the House’s mobile device management software, which enables the House to remotely secure and monitor its phones. The scheme was first discovered when one of the stolen phones was sold whole on eBay to an uninvolved purchaser. When the purchaser first booted up the phone, the phone displayed a phone number for the House of Representatives Technology Service Desk. The purchaser called that number, and House employees soon discovered that several phones were unaccounted for. Source: CBSnews.com and US Attorney, District of Columbia

A 64-year-old disbarred Rockville attorney entered a plea deal in Montgomery County Circuit Court that could result in a maximum of 15 years in prison. According to Montgomery County State’s Attorney, 21 victims gave funds through three separate schemes. In one scheme, 18 victims loaned the attorney money for a purported oil deal in the Middle East. Source thedailyrecord.com

Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming has spent decades investigating fraud, misconduct and abuse of public trust — work that has taken her from private-sector auditing to high-profile public corruption cases in Maryland and beyond. Source: Baltimore Sun via Yahoo.com

With Maryland staring down a projected $1.4B budget deficit, scrutiny is intensifying over how effectively the state protects taxpayer dollars from fraud and abuse. Source: Baltimore Sun

A Parkville mother and daughter who stole $3.6 million from Medicaid through fake patient records, forged signatures and stolen identities have been sentenced in a sweeping fraud case that prosecutors say targeted some of Maryland's most vulnerable residents.

Between November 2019 and September 2024, the mother operated two behavioral health companies, Guiding Lives Inc. and Another Chance Supportive Services LLC (ACSS), that submitted fraudulent claims for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program services. The mother recruited her daughter to manage and conduct billing for Guiding Lives Inc. Source: Baltimore Sun via YahooNews  and Maryland AG.

“There was an error in the calculation,” the Department of General Services tells (Baltimore City Council President Zeke) Cohen, that resulted in a 340% price increase that city agencies and the mayor’s and comptroller’s office did not catch.”

Still unanswered is why the half dozen city agencies and offices responsible for reviewing contracts and spending authorizations before they appear before the Board of Estimates did not spot the outsized increase or query DGS about the lack of documentation in the contract file. Source: Baltimore Brew