An employee in the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) defrauded the county of more than $13,000 by spending more than 270 hours seeing private clients during county work hours since July 2024, according to a report released Wednesday from the Office of the Inspector General.

According to the report, the inspector general’s office informed Richard Madaleno, the county’s chief administration officer, about the employee. In a Sept. 19 response to the report, Fariba Kassiri, deputy chief administrative officer for the county, said DHHS was “taking appropriate steps to seek recovery of the overpayment” and that the employee will be “separating” from the county on Wednesday.

Read more at Bethesda Today.