Former BPD officer spent nearly $2,000 on fuel card after leaving department, OIG says

BALTIMORE -- A former Baltimore Officer is accused of fraud, financial waste, and abuse after an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General.

According to a report, the OIG received a complaint alleging fraud involving a fuel card issued to a former Baltimore Police Department officer in December 2023. 

The complaint said that a fuel card issued to the former DGS Operations Officer was used to purchase approximately 429 fuel after the officer's separation from the department in 2022, totaling $1,903.07.

The fuel card was used on 30 occasions to purchase fuel after separation. The OIG said it contacted the commercial fueling locations and attempted to obtain surveillance footage of the locations, but none of the fuel locations had saved video from that time. 

Fuel cards act like credit cards and can be used to refuel vehicles, and should be canceled when employees separate from BPD. But according to the OIG, the BPD Asset Coordinator did not request that the officer cancel the card until May 2023, nearly a year after the officer separated from the department. 

During the OIG's review, they found that 16 other former BPD employees who had separated from the city still had active fuel cards.