Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan has found that a third county corrections officer with ties to Nigeria committed fraud by obtaining a federal COVID loan for a business that did not exist.

The corrections officer, who is not identified in the report released Thursday, took out a loan for $19,368 to assist his small business, which he claimed had been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. He claimed to moonlight for both Uber and Lyft, earning $94,267 per year to supplement his full-time job at the county jail.

But the IG’s report said tax returns show he only made $6,948.50 from Uber in 2018 and did not work for the ride-sharing company from 2019 to 2021. In 2022, he made $1,110.87. He earned no money from a second job in 2023 or 2024 at all.

He earned some money from Lyft between August 2016 and December 2016, but was fired after five months because “he had too many negative reviews about the condition of his vehicle,” the report said. Tax returns show no income from Lyft since 2016.

“In the key years he applied for the loan, he wasn’t working at all,” Madigan said. “That’s pure fraud.”

The corrections officer used the funds to pay down credit cards, which he had overextended to purchase vehicles at auctions and ship them to Nigeria, the report found.

This corrections officer employed the same scheme as two other corrections officers who were the subjects of IG reports this past spring. In May, Madigan determined that a corrections officer defrauded the federal government of more than $41,663; June’s tally was $18,125. All claimed to be Uber drivers, and all used the money to buy and send vehicles to Nigeria and pocket the proceeds, according to the reports.

“Pandemic relief fraud by County employees causes significant harm to the reputation of the County and diminishes trust in County government,” Madigan wrote in her report. “Further, corrections officers hold positions of trust within County government as they are responsible for the safety, security, and integrity of detention facilities and the individuals that are housed within those facilities.”

In addition to violating the county corrections department’s directive against making false statements, the officer failed to report his income from Uber and Lyft, as county policy requires, Madigan said.

She has been conducting these investigations with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of the Inspector General as part of an effort to investigate fraud nationwide from the COVID loan program, particularly among police officers, firefighters, and corrections officers.

Madigan forwarded her report and the evidence to County Administrative Officer D’Andrea Walker, who said the county would conduct its own investigation into the matter. Madigan also said she will send her report to the US. Attorney for possible prosecution. She did not know if the corrections officer was still employed, and the county did not say.

Madigan released the report just a day after she interviewed for her own job. In May, three days after she released a report outlining improper vehicle use by former County Executive Johnny Olszewski’s uncle, a former county employee, the current county executive handed her a letter saying she would not be automatically re-appointed to the job.

Kathy Klausmeier, a longtime state senator who is close to Olszewski, was appointed to fill out the last two years of his term after he was elected to Congress in January.

Though Klausmeier told The Baltimore Banner that she thought Madigan had done a good job as inspector general — the county’s first —she said she wanted to open up the process. Klausmeier established a panel of experts to conduct the interviews. County officials said 23 people applied for the position. Four of the seven council members have said they will only support Madigan.