New questions raised about fired Pittsburgh employee who was rehired and accused of antisemitic vandalism
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — There are disturbing new developments in the investigation of a fired city employee who was rehired only to be accused of an act of antisemitic vandalism.
Emails obtained by KDKA Investigates raise questions about whether Mario Ashkar continued to work for the city after being named as a suspect and whether payment invoices were doctored.
The story of Ashkar and his employment with the city gets stranger and stranger.
Fired for poor performance from the Pittsburgh Public Safety Department only to be rehired months later as a contractor by the Pittsburgh Parks Department, and then paid under the table as it were by PayPal instead of city check.
Emails obtained by KDKA-TV question whether he continued to work for the city after police identified him as a suspect in defacing a Mexican War Street sidewalk with a Nazi slogan even though the city told Pittsburgh City Council it immediately severed ties.
"When it became clear who their primary suspect for this was, all work stopped under this arraignment," deputy mayor Jake Pawlak told the council.
That would have been April 23, but before leaving Ashkar submitted an invoice claiming that he worked four additional days, April 24-28, after the city said he was let go.
In a responding email, Pittsburgh Parks Department Director Kathryn Vargas told Ashkar the city cannot pay him for those days. So, Ashkar submitted another invoice subtracting those days but adding four hours of work to the previous week.
Despite this apparent padding, in a subsequent email, Vargas approves those payments and Ashkar responds, "Thanks again for figuring this out!"
"I am not a lawyer and this is the first time I've seen these documents, but I will say this appears to be a very improper payment and it's quite concerning," Pittsburgh City Controller Rachael Heisler said.
Heisler, who initiated the investigation into Ashkar's employment, said the emails raise her concerns to a new level. She says the emails show the Gainey administration knew in late April that a city contractor had been implicated in these crimes but never told the public, even after his arrest on May 10.
"Our office and therefore city council only became aware of it after an anonymous phone call came in more than two weeks later on May 10," Heisler said. "And I find that also to be very disappointing."
In these emails, Vargas took full responsibility for the whole affair but questions persist.
The administration has referred this to the Office of Municipal Investigations, which is an internal investigative body. It says it's not going to comment until that investigation is complete.
