Vendor Overbilled Baltimore City By $160K Over Several Years For Work It Subcontracted To Other Company, Report Finds
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore City has suspended a vendor it had been working with to maintain city equipment after the vendor reportedly overbilled the city by $160,000 over the course of multiple years, according to a report from the city's inspector general.
The report states the unnamed vendor submitted inflated invoices to the city for work the vendor then subcontracted to another company. The vendor then billed the city as if it had done the work, though the report noted the vendor did not have the knowledge or equipment to do.
The other company reportedly told the inspector general's office the first company had asked them to bill them directly and not send bills to the city.
The report also found the vendor inflated the price of snow equipment it sold to the city by tens of thousands of dollars. Some of the equipment was never used and didn't fit onto city vehicles.
In response, the city's Department of General Services said it has put its relationship with the vendor on hold "pending a final determination."
In addition, two employees with the city's Fleet Management Division, including one executive, are no longer employed by the city after they reportedly got free access to the vendor's facilities to work on a personal vehicle, which the inspector general's report described as appearing to be a conflict of interest.