MARYLAND NEWS

The organization alleges its former CEO spent thousands of dollars on trips to Florida and other personal expenses. Source: bizjournals.com

Maryland’s Joint Enforcement Task Force on Workplace Fraud (JETF) has released a new annual report, revealing the magnitude of worker misclassification in Maryland. Misclassified workers lose out on critical workplace protections,

including access to unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation, health insurance coverage,minimum wage, and overtime pay, and workplace fraud also causes significant harm to employers and the state.

Collectively, in 2024, Task Force agencies discovered over 5,500 misclassified workers through their enforcement actions. Over $36 million in unreported taxable wages were uncovered through 2024 Unemployment Insurance audits. The report dives into specific occupations to reveal the scale of the problem.

The report is available on the Maryland Department of Labor website. Workers who have questions about their status—or believe they have been misclassified—can contact the Division of Labor & Industry at  workrights@maryland.gov.  Source: Maryland Attorney General

The Baltimore City Sheriff’s office has been accused of potential waste and misuse of authority, in a report released Wednesday. Source: WBAL.com

The Sun spoke with investors from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Source: BaltimoreSun.com

Defendants Advertised MVA Drivers Licenses on Instagram for $600. Source: Maryland Attorney General

 A 38-year old Denton woman pleaded guilty to one count of Medicaid Fraud  stemming from allegations that she was practicing nursing without a license. Source: Maryland Attorney General

After a seven-day trial, a federal jury found a 77 year old Owings Mills man guilty of 13 counts of fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of filing false tax returns, and one count of aggravated identity theft… According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the man defrauded life-insurance companies by securing more than 40 life-insurance policies. The scheme included misrepsenting policy applicants’ health, wealth, and existing life-insurance coverage… Also, he defrauded individual investors to receive funds that he used to pay premiums on the fraudulently obtained life-insurance policies. He concealed the fraud by transferring the proceeds to multiple bank accounts, including accounts in the name of trusts. He then filed false individual income-tax returns for 2018 and 2019, which concealed the fraudulent proceeds from each year, approximately $5.7 million and $2 million, respectively. Source: US Attorney District of Maryland

Block, Inc., the parent company of Cash App, has agreed to pay $80 million in a settlement with Maryland and 47 other states over violations of bank secrecy and anti-money laundering laws, according to Maryland Department of Labor's Office of Financial Regulation. Maryland will receive approximately $1.6 million from the settlement. Source: WJZ, CBS News Baltimore

Members of the Maryland Legislature are allocated funds to award legislative scholarships to students attending Maryland colleges or for Maryland students attending colleges outside of Maryland that offer programs unavailable at any Maryland institution. According to the charging document, the former legislative aide worked for a Maryland State Senator and used her position to allocate $20,000 of scholarship funds from the Senator’s Office to her own educational institution without the knowledge or consent of the Senator. She continued to access the Senator’s email address after she no longer worked in the Senator’s Office to ensure she continued to receive the scholarship funds. Source: Maryland State Prosecutor

Defendant allegedly failed to report millions in poker winnings and falsely omitted more than $14 Million in debts to obtain loan.  Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland