Staff Reports
A former Homeland Security employee quietly admitted she ripped off the taxpayers. Richeline Anisso Fung pleaded guilty to federal false‑claims charges after prosecutors say she billed multiple government agencies at the same time she was drawing a full‑time DHS paycheck. The court accepted her plea and set sentencing for Jan. 20, 2027 — a reminder that fraud doesn’t pay forever, even when it is disguised as a very busy workday.
Guilty plea and the charges
Fung admitted in U.S. District Court that while employed full time at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency she also served as a contractor for a string of other agencies. Prosecutors say she worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Energy, Department of Justice, Federal Highway Administration, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Department of Agriculture — sometimes through her own company, RAF Pro‑Consulting, LLC. The government says her scheme cost taxpayers nearly $250,000, and she has agreed to pay full restitution. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for Jan. 20, 2027.
How the scheme worked — and how obvious it was
Investigators say Fung routinely overstated hours on timesheets, often claiming more than 24 hours of combined work in a single day. In one month she allegedly logged days of 32 and 33 hours. That stretches credulity past cleverness and lands it firmly in fraud. Prosecutors say she hid her outside contracting from DHS and hid her DHS status from contracting agencies. Remote work after a move from Maryland to Florida, the paperwork shows, helped her keep the scheme running until auditors and the FBI caught up.
The Biden-era fraud crackdown? No — the Trump administration’s anti‑fraud push is in the spotlight
The Justice Department framed the Fung case as part of a larger push to root out waste and fraud across federal programs. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald pointed to the National Fraud Enforcement Division and the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud as part of the effort. This prosecution fits a pattern: when agencies actually look for fraud, they find it — including among the very people hired to protect the public trust. If you work inside the system and decide to game it, expect federal agents to show up at your door.
What comes next and why taxpayers should care
Sentencing will reveal how serious the court treats this scheme. The federal criminal false‑claims statute carries real penalties and the presentence report will show the guideline range and how restitution will be handled. Beyond Fung’s fate, the larger point is simple: the taxpayer deserves accountability, and officials must keep tightening oversight of contractors and remote work arrangements that can hide double‑dipping. No one should be able to collect two paychecks for the same hours while claiming the impossible — like a 33‑hour day — and get away with it.
