HUD Director in Kansas City, Kansas Charged with Receiving Pay for Hours Not Worked
| U.S. Attorney’s Office May 21, 2009 |
KANSAS CITY, KS—The Hub Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s office in Kansas City, Kan., is charged with taking pay for hours he did not work, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today.
Herman S. Ransom, 52, Olathe, Kan., is charged with 10 counts of wire fraud and 10 counts of theft of public funds.
According to the indictment:
Beginning in 1998, Ransom served as Hub Director of HUD’s office in Kansas City, Kan. He supervised approximately 89 employees and had responsibility for overseeing the Office of Multifamily Housing for Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Programs his office operated included FHA insured loans, Section 202/811 housing for elderly and disabled clients, and Section 8 low income housing. As a GS-15 level supervisor, Ransom’s working hours were set at 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. He was required to accurately report the hours he worked and to abide by all HUD policies on attendance including sick leave, vacation time, holiday hours and personal leave.
Ransom certified on reports for two-week pay periods that he had worked 80 hours when in fact he knew he had taken personal time off during work hours. Some of the time he claimed to have worked he in fact spent playing tennis or gambling at casinos.
Ransom collected more than $47,000 in pay for hours he did not work.
Ransom caused false reports of his work hours to be sent electronically from Kansas City, Kan., to the National Finance Center in New Orleans, La., for processing and payment. Funds were transferred to his account at Mazuma Credit Union in Kansas City, Mo.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count of wire fraud, and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count of theft of public money. The Department of Housing and Urban Development - Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation worked on the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tris Hunt is prosecuting.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments filed merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.