Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that six members of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) were arrested and criminally charged for falsifying overtime claims by forging supervisory approvals and manipulating official overtime records, resulting in the District paying them $441,137 for work they did not perform. An investigation into this fraud scheme was opened after MPD’s Internal Affairs Division identified irregularities in overtime submissions, including unusually high volumes of claimed overtime hours and inconsistencies between claimed work activity and independent verification data.
Given the limited criminal jurisdiction of the D.C government under the Home Rule Act, prosecutions of adult felonies such as this are handled by the federal government, through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (USAO). The Office of the Attorney General…
This remains the most prevalent form of financial crime globally. It targets the direct access points to your money: your cards and your bank accounts.
- Skimming: Criminals use small devices called “skimmers” placed over ATM or point-of-sale card slots to capture the data from your card’s magnetic strip.
- Card-Not-Present (CNP) Fraud: This occurs during online shopping where a physical card isn’t required. Thieves use stolen card numbers, expiry dates, and CVV codes to make unauthorized purchases.
- Account Takeover (ATO): A hacker gains access to your online banking credentials (often through malware or phishing) and changes the contact details or passwords, locking you out while they drain your funds.