Langley Air Force Base secretary faked payroll for 17 years, giving herself an extra $1.46 million

[TexasTowelie]

NEWPORT NEWS -- A former employee at Langley Air Force Base admitted Wednesday that she bilked the federal government out of $1.46 million — mainly by faking the amount of overtime she worked over 17 years.

Michelle M. Holt, 52, was a civilian secretary at the base, where she worked in the communications support squadron of Air Combat Command.

She pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Newport News to felony charges that she undertook a long-running effort to boost her own pay.

Between December 2001 and July 2018, Holt falsely claimed 42,847 overtime hours that she didn’t work, according to a statement of facts that Holt, her lawyer and prosecutors signed off on Wednesday as part of the plea deal.

Read more: https://pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/article_8dc2ac02-fe54-11e8-846d-dba734ca5418.html

[underpants]

1. That's 2,520 hours per year

Which works out to 105 hours of overtime per (24) pay period.
Or about 48.5 hours OT a week. Just about 18 hour days.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Is there no oversight? Where was the supervisor? Auditors?

Hard to explain that staggering amount of OT.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Operative phrase: "Long-running"

The compassion they show for themselves is just disgusting. I can't imagine how this excuse could resonate for clemency:

“She was a long-term employee at Langley, and she took her job very seriously,” said her lawyer, William Johnson. “She loved what she did … and she’s very emotional about it.”

“New employees would come to her” for advice on getting acclimated to the Air Force and how things worked at the base, said Holt’s other attorney, Amy Van Fossen.

Holt spent the money on “life and paying daily bills” rather than on spending on luxury items, Johnson said. “There were no exorbitant expenses,” he said.


She's torn, just torn...about getting caught.

[Jim Lane]

4. IOW, there's waste, fraud, and abuse in the military budget.

All those Republicans who so ardently publicize waste, fraud, and abuse in programs like food stamps will doubtless be all over this news, too.

Any day now....