Baltimore’s City’s Flagship violence prevention program, Safe Streets, used 26 potentially “fictitious names” on various contracts submitted to the city’s spending board.

Allen Iverson, Lemur Jackson II and Merlin Humphrey II were all listed on contracts — but none of them actually work at a Safe Streets site, according to the latest report from the city’s Office of the Inspector General.

And while Inspector General Isabel Cumming found that taxpayers did not pay out to these fictitious employees, the incidents could run afoul of the state’s public records laws.

So, why were these names of not-quite Baltimore Ravens listed as violence interrupters? It’s all part of a “get around” in city policy.

In Baltimore City, contractors are reimbursed for their work, often after it is completed.

The Pre-Audits division checks that contracts are in compliance with city policies before they can go before the city’s Board of Estimates for approval.

The 10 Safe Streets are operated between two contractors: Catholic Charities and Lifebridge Health Center for Hope. The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement oversees the program.

Problems began back in Fiscal Year ‘22 when MONSE was trying to get a contract for a vendor that had already done its work without one being finalized. MONSE told the contractor that they needed a name for a vacant hospital responder position.

“Off the record, neither MONSE nor the audits team will verify the individual, so we really just need a name that doesn’t sound fictional. If we remove the position, we will need to revamp the budget and time is of the essence,” an employee from MONSE wrote in a document obtained by the OIG.

That contract was approved, including a hospital responder with a salary of $37,850.

In another instance, a MONSE employee wrote “enter names in the vacant positions. They can be made up, they just cannot be position titles alone or empty.”

The OIG found 26 “potentially fictitious employee” names on contracts that were eventually sent to the BOE and approved. The inspector found nine of those were likely completely fabricated while 17 of those names yielded results that did not match with people living in the Baltimore area.

However, it seems Baltimore taxpayers haven’t paid out to non-existent people.

“The investigation found no evidence that MONSE funds were used to pay for the fictitious employees listed in the FY 2022 to 2024 contract documents that were presented to the Board of Estimates,” wrote Inspector General Isabel Cumming in her summary report. “Witnesses indicated there have been improvements to the City’s management of the contracts under the current MONSE director.”

“Upon review of the findings, the agency took immediate action to better understand the scope of the problem, conduct a detailed review of contracts and invoices, and take immediate accountability,” wrote Stefanie Mavronis, Director of MONSE in a response to the OIG. At least one person was fired, Mavronis wrote.

Mavronis agreed with the OIG’s findings that no money was paid out to fictitious people.

“We are committed to completing a thorough review of payroll and timesheet records to ensure that grant funds used to pay for salaries and personnel were appropriately used. Should the agency find evidence of financial mismanagement, we are prepared to work with the Law Department to recover these funds,” wrote the director of the mayor’s public safety office.

How did this happen?

Part of the problem partially rests with previous Pre-Audits division requirements; employees interviewed by the OIG said that a former manager did not allow positions to be vacant on a contract budget. Employees also said they never told an agency to write a fictitious name.

These are policies that have since changed.

Pre-Audits now reports to the Office of the Comptroller and now allows for positions titles to be listed in a contract without names.

City Auditor Josh Pasch wrote, “It is not uncommon for a vendor to change staff working on a contract (e.g. employee turnover). The significant risk to the city would be paying for fictitious employees. This risk would be mitigated by reviewing invoices and auditing vendors.”

Going forward, Inspector General Cumming agreed by recommending agencies review contracts and documents for potentially false information. Cumming also recommends that MONSE executes its contracts in a more timely fashion, “as vendors completing work without an executed contract exposes both the City and its vendors to risk.”

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that City Auditor wrote comments on behalf of the Comptroller's Office, not Comptroller Bill Henry.