MARYLAND NEWS

A Baltimore City roofing company defrauded Baltimore County and committed perjury by misrepresenting its relationship with a subcontracting company after being awarded a roughly $1.8 million contract to replace the roof of the Baltimore County public safety building, according to a report released Wednesday by the office of Baltimore County Inspector General. Source: Baltimore Sun at msn.com and Baltimore County IG report.

The State of Maryland today is encouraging Marylanders to take precautionary action to protect their identity in the wake of a wide-reaching cyber attack. Along with an undetermined number of organizations across the nation, the Maryland Department of Human Services was affected by the MOVEit data breach, which occurred at a third-party vendor contracted by the state and is believed to be tied to a security flaw in a file transfer tool. Source: Maryland Department of Human Services

The Office for Civil Rights, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, opens investigations into all "breaches of unsecured protected health information affecting 500 or more individuals," according to its website. Source: WBAL-TV11 Baltimore

The treasurer for a powerful Baltimore County political slate pleaded guilty Thursday to theft and perjury charges, admitting to stealing campaign funds from the group and from a former county councilwoman's finance committee. Source:The Daily Record

In this variant of “the dog ate my homework,” a master’s degree allegedly achieved 20 years earlier was never mailed. Source: Baltimore Brew

A Maryland woman learned the SUV she bought used and drove for 20 years had been stolen and the VIN had been tampered with. “Within five minutes, the police officers took my vehicle” Source: NBC4 Washington

The Baltimore County Executive ruled out creating an oversight board for the county inspector general. That puts to rest a controversy that has dogged Olszewski for 2 years…When Olszewski proposed an oversight board for the inspector general in 2021, he received withering criticism from County Council members.  WYPR and also linked by the Baltimore Brew.

A jury Tuesday determined Annapolis businessman Harvey Blonder had committed fraud and other financial misdeeds while serving as manager of the Yellowfin Steak and Fish House and ordered him to pay more than $9 million in damages to the restaurant. BaltimoreSun.com

Consumers who were misled by TurboTax’s owner Intuit into paying for free tax

services will begin receiving checks from a $141 million multistate settlement announced in May 2022. All 50 states and the District of Columbia signed onto the agreement. Approximately 4.4 million consumers nationwide will receive checks in the mail from the settlement.

Maryland will receive $2,188,255.93 for 71,950 consumers who were unfairly charged. Eligible consumers will be contacted by email about the settlement. Checks will be mailed throughout May 2023. Source Maryland Attorney General

A judge in Baltimore City Circuit Court ordered the company to pay almost $400,000 in restitution to the state. In addition, the company must terminate its participation in the Medicaid program…According to the Maryland Attorney General, as part of its scheme, the company knowingly and willfully submitted claims to Medicaid for services that it knew to be fraudulent. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the company continued to bill from March 16, 2020, to March 27, 2020, despite not providing any services. Additionally, a review of records revealed that 22 children were assessed in January 2020 as “within normal limits” with respect to their speech development. However, the company continued to bill Medicaid for speech-language therapy services for those children well beyond that date. Source: Maryland Attorney General