A ‘ghost guard’ scam cost this city big, inspector finds. But fixes are now in place
Pembroke FL Aug 27 2020
The city of Pembroke Pines paid over $1.2 million for a security company’s services. But when investigators checked the logbooks, it turned out to be more of a ghost patrol: At times, no guards were on duty.
That’s what the Broward County Office of Inspector General concluded in its final report that alleges fraud on the part of Bayus Security Services.
Of the more than $1.2 million the city paid to the company, the report concluded that the company defrauded the city out of at least $711,500 of that.
In January of this year, two company representatives were arrested. Co-owner Ololade Shokunbi, 55, and operation manager Oluwatoyin Laditan, 60, were arrested in Miami-Dade County and charged with “organized scheme to defraud,” a first-degree felony, according to court records. Both have pleaded not guilty and posted $35,000 bonds.
A third executive, co-owner Olalekan Shokunbi, 63, was initially on the run but later was arrested for the same charge, authorities said. Shokunbi also has pleaded not guilty and posted a bond.
But while the company itself was doing the alleged defrauding, the city was unable to detect or stop the fraud because of its own “misconduct and gross mismanagement,” the Broward inspector general said in a final report released Wednesday.
According to the company’s logbook, only 31% of the hours invoiced to the city were actually logged by workers. Logbooks were not available at all for the five-year period in question at three facilities, but the company still invoiced the city for over 12,000 hours worked.
In total, 140,606 hours were invoiced despite just 43,677 hours being logged by workers.
“Had [city] staff reviewed the logbooks that were available, they would have realized that Bayus Security Services billed for hours when its logbooks did not reflect a security guard on duty,” the inspector general’s report read.
The city took issue with the inspector’s characterization that the city engaged in misconduct. Pembroke Pines City Manager Charles F. Dodge did not respond to request for comment but the city issued a statement through the city attorney’s law firm.
“The term ‘misconduct’ as used by the OIG is defined in the Broward County Charter, and intent is not necessary,” the city’s statement says in part. “The City believes this is an important distinction and that any characterizations of intentional violations or misleading conduct by any City employee would not be accurate and would be unfair.”
It goes on to say that “the OIG did not identify any intentional conduct by any City employee (former or current)” but that the city is not contesting the total amounts identified in the report.
The city says that although the billing practices were allegedly fraudulent, it did receive service. The city also says it has taken “extensive steps” to address issues it became aware of as a result of the inspector general’s investigation and is exploring legal options to recover the money it lost.
According to the inspector general, these steps include increasing the contracts-division staff, revising its invoice review process, conducting citywide training on the new process, and buying new software to ensure contract compliance. The city plans to follow up with regular training, audits and contract reviews, among other initiatives.
