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City worker abused authority for personal gain, investigation shows

Posted at 2:12 PM, Jul 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-13 14:12:44-04

RICHMOND, Va. — An employee at the Richmond Department of Social Services (RDSS) abused their power and accessed computers to pull someone else’s personal for the employee’s personal gain, an investigation conducted by the Office of the Inspector General determined.

The employee worked as a RDSS Benefits Program Specialist assigned to the Medicaid Unit and accessed Department of Motor Vehicles, Virginia Employment Commission, and other sites.

“During an interview, the subject employee denied the allegation at first, but later admitted to accessing the system and inquiring information on the known individual. The subject did not need to obtain any information on the known individual for work related purposes, but used the information for personal gain,” City Auditor Umesh Dalal wrote in a report. “The employee indicated that the inquiry was made to determine if the known individual was alive. However, documents obtained by the investigator indicated that subject employee was in communication with the known individual and knew that the known individual was in fact alive.”

Dalal did not go into detail about the relationship between the employee and the person whose information was accessed, nor did he elaborate on the personal gain the employee attempted to achieve.

The employee in question resigned and the case has been referred to the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office for further review.

“The Department of Social Services thanks the auditor for resolving this matter which the agency brought to the auditor’s attention,” a spokeswoman for Mayor Dwight Jones said in reaction to the report. “The employee no longer works for the city.”

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