A former Commodity Futures Trading Commission official who led the agency's union said he was working—and collecting his six-figure government salary—from Chicago. He was actually in Mexico City, where he worked less than half of the hours he should have, records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.
Now, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) is calling on Malcolm Alexander-Neal, a former CFTC risk analyst, to return "every dollar he stole" from American taxpayers.
Alexander-Neal worked remotely from Mexico City as a CFTC risk analyst from March 2022 to February 2025, while falsely telling colleagues he lived in Chicago. He was placed on administrative leave in February and officially left the CFTC in July. Alexander-Neal, who served as president of the National Treasury Employees Union, worked just 542 hours from March 2024 to December 2024, less than half of the 1,200 hours he should have clocked.
And when Alexander-Neal did work, his efforts focused heavily on the National Treasury Employees Union, according to a letter the CFTC provided Grassley this month. Just 7 percent of Alexander-Neal's work account emails were related to CFTC business, while 90 percent dealt with the union, CFTC officials informed Grassley this month, according to the letter, obtained by the Free Beacon.
Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called Alexander-Neal's actions a "textbook case of government waste, fraud and abuse."
"Mr. Alexander-Neal defrauded American taxpayers and failed to uphold his oath as a federal employee," Grassley told the Free Beacon. "Every dollar he stole should be returned."
According to one government salary database, Alexander-Neal received $200,000 in salary and benefits in 2023.
Alexander-Neal's telework arrangement was thanks to Biden administration policies that let federal employees work from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump authorized federal employees to work from home in March 2020, but tried to roll back the policy at the end of his term. Biden maintained the telework policy throughout his term.
Republicans have alleged the Biden administration caved to pressure from federal employee unions to allow workers to work from home well after the pandemic ended.
"Biden-Harris Administration officials worked with federal labor union allies not only to lock in high telework levels, but to undermine the ability of the incoming Trump Administration to unlock them, and to manage its own workforce," the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee alleged in a January 2025 report.
The CFTC, which regulates futures, options, and commodities, only learned about Alexander-Neal's scheme through an autobiography he published last year. Alexander-Neal set up a Virtual Private Network from his Mexico City residence, a violation of CFTC policy. He also "teleworked" from 11 different countries, including Lebanon, Chile, and the Dominican Republic, the CFTC inspector general found.
Alexander-Neal initially lied to investigators about his living arrangements before admitting to living and working outside the country. He now runs an accounting firm called Mac Neal.
Alexander-Neal did not respond to a request for comment.
