Authored by Adam Andrzejewski via RealClearWire,
Topline: A Delaware worker stole $181,000 from the state’s Division of Labor early final 12 months, however the public didn’t discover out till this April. The reality was solely revealed after the WHYY News public radio station contacted the Delaware Division of Labor following a tip.
Key info: Unemployment insurance coverage administrator Michael Brittingham allegedly stole the cash from the Delaware Unemployment Compensation Fund, in accordance with WHYY.
The State of Delaware employed Brittingham in February 2019. That summer season, he was sentenced to 2 years in jail for stealing virtually $43,000 from his house owner’s affiliation by writing checks to an organization he owned, NEWAGE Administration LLC, the information outlet reported.
As a substitute of being fired by the state, Brittingham had his jail time changed into probation and even earned a number of job promotions whereas nonetheless serving his sentence. The state Division of Labor bizarrely blamed it on the truth that workers are anticipated to “self-report” legal convictions in an announcement to WHYY Information.
Brittingham’s wage doubled from $35,000 to $70,000 in that point span, in accordance with data at OpenTheBooks.com.
Brittingham then allegedly pulled the identical check-writing scheme on a a lot bigger scale. In January 2023, he instructed his workers to problem two tax refunds to NEWAGE Administration LLC: one for $86,827 and one other for $94,357
He was caught by his colleagues as soon as they realized the enterprise’s handle matched the one listed on Brittingham’s 2019 arrest warrant.
Brittingham took his personal life in April 2023 shortly after an investigation was opened.
Background: The theft is only one a part of bigger points with Delaware’s Division of Labor. Its $390 million unemployment fund was deemed to be “unauditable” in a state report issued this 12 months.
Unbiased auditors took the “unprecedented” step of issuing a “disclaimer of opinion” on the unemployment insurance coverage fund, which means its accounting practices are so poor that they might not decide whether or not its monetary statements are correct.
However the auditors’ report didn’t point out the theft. Even now, the state refuses to inform WHYY Information whether or not the investigation has been closed.
Vital quote: “I’m undecided how or why they tried to maintain it quiet aside from they don’t wish to carry consideration to the truth that the whole lot is basically screwed up,” Laura Henderson, a tax assortment supervisor on the state’s Unemployment Insurance coverage Workplace, instructed WHYY Information.
“We might love for there to be transparency. For us to only put it out within the open like, ‘Hey, we’re drowning and let’s give you a plan right here.’”
The #WasteOfTheDay is dropped at you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
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