Federal authorities are investigating a tuition assistance program in Montgomery County that allowed county employees to misspend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on sailing lessons, semiautomatic weapons and other questionable pursuits, according to county officials.
The probe marks the third time the federal government has investigated county spending practices during the last two years.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is specifically interested in a firearms training company owned by a county police officer who allegedly sold semiautomatic handguns and sniper rifles to hundreds of public safety officers at steep discounts by subsidizing the weapons’ prices with taxpayer money, according to a county official who asked not to be identified.
Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein declined to comment.
The Montgomery County Attorney’s Office is suing the officer, Detective Aaron Bailey, saying he defrauded the county of $400,800 through his company, Applied Sciences for Public Safety. Bailey’s attorney, Charles Rand, did not return calls seeking comment.
The lawsuit was filed days before the county’s independent inspector general is expected to release a report highly critical of the county’s handling of the tuition assistance program.
A police spokeswoman said Bailey’s work status has not been affected by the civil suit. Bailey is assigned to the department’s firearms unit.
By comparison, the department put a forensic specialist, who is not a sworn officer, on administrative leave after he was arrested for allegedly trying to shoplift firewood from Home Depot earlier this year.
County officials began investigating the tuition assistance program last summer after Sheriff Ray Kight alerted county officials to the potential fraud. More than 300 public safety officials, mostly police officers, have taken courses with Applied Sciences or its affiliates, county officials said.
Evidence filed by the county, including fliers from Applied Sciences advertising the sale of $99 Glock handguns that normally sell for more than $600, appear to confirm many of Kight’s original allegations.
Subsequent investigations showed county employees across all departments took questionable classes on the taxpayers’ dime, including hot yoga instruction, Spanish classes in Central America and intermediate sailing lessons.
Federal investigators have not been strangers in Montgomery County. The FBI has investigated a child care center that contracts with the county to provide education to Hispanic immigrants. And Rosenstein looked into allegations of abuse in the county’s disability retirement system for former high-ranking police officers before dropping the case.
The Examiner first reported all three federal investigations.
