Cleveland, Ohio According to recently made public invoices, a man received $672,050 over 14 years and more than 400 payments from the city of Cleveland before anybody discovered he had never worked there.
According to new documents, a guy whose relative worked for TV20, the city’s public-access channel, received payments in increments ranging from $450 to $3,000 or more on dozens of occasions annually. The bills were signed by the former TV20 director, an assistant director, and an office manager who, according to police accounts, is the man’s aunt.
Since they have not been charged in the case, Cleveland.com is not naming them.
The HR Director for Cleveland informed the authorities that there were no records of the man’s employment, even though hundreds of invoices paid him as though he were a TV20 freelancer.
The accused man’s aunt was an officer manager who oversaw TV20’s freelancer scheduling. In April, she quit. The police report also states that she and her nephew shared a Cleveland Heights residence.
The Cleveland Heights man and his aunt are charged with theft and forgery in a police report dated April 28. The authenticity of several of the autographs has also been questioned by the police.
According to a spreadsheet that Cleveland.com was able to get, the individual was paid 429 different bills. Numerous invoices list multiple occasions where he was allegedly employed.
Sarah Johnson, a city spokesperson, stated that no arrests had been reported to local authorities. The state auditor’s office is currently looking into the issue, she added, and the city will make further details public as soon as they are available.
Whether it was at a Juneteenth celebration, a city council committee meeting, a city director’s swearing-in ceremony, a press briefing for former Mayor Frank Jackson, or Cleveland’s Senior Day events, the Cleveland Heights man was paid to help TV20 in a variety of ways, according to records.
Records show that the individual was last paid on March 11 and last worked for Cleveland on January 31. He is identified as a studio assistant or videographer with equipment in the most recent invoices.
The man would have had the opportunity to run into city officials at hundreds of events, if the invoices are to be believed.
According to the police report, the invoices weren’t questioned until July 2024, when TV20 appointed a new director. Subsequently, city officials found that several of the bills included what they suspect were fake assistant director signatures.
AI helped with this story’s information organization.
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