A federal employee pleaded guilty Thursday to fraud, admitting she used teleworking so she could claim to be working full-time for three different government agencies at the same time. Here’s what you need to know about the federal telework fraud case:
The guilty plea
Crissy Monique Baker admits to defrauding taxpayers:
- Used teleworking to work for three government agencies simultaneously
- Pleaded guilty Thursday to fraud charges
- Admitted to costing taxpayers $225,866.99 in payments for time she didn’t actually work
- Sometimes billed government for more than 24 hours of work in single day
The three government positions
Baker held multiple federal jobs without approval:
- Full-time management and program analyst at Housing and Urban Development
- Contractor position doing human resources work at AmeriCorps
- Contractor position at National Institutes of Health
- Did not get approval from HUD for other work
The employment timeline
Baker’s overlapping job schedule:
- Started AmeriCorps contractor work Sept. 1, 2021
- Began full-time HUD analyst position Oct. 25, 2021 as GS-13
- Added NIH contractor work May 16, 2022
- Triple-dipped until NIH contract ended Dec. 2, 2022
- Continued AmeriCorps contracting through April 30, 2023
The impossible work hours
Baker reported physically impossible daily schedules:
- During June 2022 reported 13 different days working 26 hours
- Claimed 10 hours at HUD and 8 hours each at NIH and AmeriCorps
- Also reported five days working between 15 and 18 hours
- Additional days with 10 hours and 4 hours reported
- Baker admitted inflating hours worked for HUD
The contractor payments
Government paid contracting companies significant amounts:
- AmeriCorps paid for 141 hours in June 2022 at $70.87 per hour
- NIH paid for 149 hours same month at $108 per hour
- Payments went to contracting companies employing Baker
- Court documents don’t reveal contracting company names
The telework enabler
Remote work allowed fraud to go undetected:
- “She was able to successfully conceal her employment because she teleworked in all three positions”
- Baker’s telework jobs coincided with pandemic
- Agency buildings emptied out during COVID-19
- Federal employees adopted remote working as standard
The presidential policies
Leaders have different approaches to telework:
- President Biden made some efforts to get employees back to office
- President Trump ordered agencies to get employees back to in-person work
- Government Accountability Office says fewer people want federal jobs without telework
- Tradeoff exists between remote work flexibility and in-person requirements
The investigation scope
Multiple agencies involved in uncovering fraud:
- Investigation included inspectors general from nine agencies
- AmeriCorps, HUD, Energy Department, FDIC participated
- Homeland Security, GSA, Health and Human Services involved
- IRS and Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation included
- FBI and Defense Department Criminal Investigative Service assisted
The defendant details
Baker awaits sentencing for fraud charges:
- Crissy Monique Baker, 45 years old
- Resident of Fairfax
- Scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 30
- Court documents don’t say how Baker’s scam was spotted
The unanswered questions
Key details remain undisclosed:
- Names of contracting companies not revealed in court documents
- Method of discovering Baker’s fraud scheme not disclosed
- Washington Times reached out to Baker’s lawyer for comment
- HUD also contacted for comment on case
Read more:
• Triple-dipping teleworker: Fed employee claimed to be working three jobs at once
This article is written with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence based solely on Washington Times original reporting and wire services. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Ann Wog, Managing Editor for Digital, at awog@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
