HUD employee admits fraud for claiming to work 26-hour days across three agencies

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