- Washington Free Beacon - https://freebeacon.com -

California Gov’t Workers Overpaid, Convicted of Bribery, Fraud

Auditors in California discovered some of its state employees are being overpaid and committing fraud.

Employees of the California Franchise Tax Board and Office of the Secretary of State in Los Angeles thought they could squeeze $250,000 out of taxpayers, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Investigations by the state auditor resulted in the two employees being convicted of bribery and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Their punishment is $227,000 in restitution to the state. Five employees who knew about the scheme but did not report it are also being disciplined.

This was not the only instance of fraud or wrongdoing. Other interesting finds by the auditors include:

A former accounting technician for the state Employment Development Department and two accomplices were convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud for a scheme that fraudulently redirected nearly $93,000 of unemployment insurance benefits to the two accomplices.

The State Athletic Commission overpaid nearly $118,700 to 18 employees for two years because it inappropriately paid them an overtime rate rather than a straight-time rate for their work. …

The California Correctional Health Care Services improperly paid a total of 23 employees $55,000 in travel benefits after a manager allowed them to receive reimbursements for their commutes and for expenses incurred near their homes and headquarters. …

An employee at the California Department of Education misused state time and equipment when he posted nearly 4,900 comments on The Sacramento Bee's news Web site during state time.