The Arizona Daily Star
TUCSON, Ariz. — A Tucson Fire Department paramedic has been indicted on four felony counts alleging work-shift fraud, court records show.
Herbert Oxnam was indicted on four counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices after a Tucson Police Department investigation showed he double-billed the city to spike his pension and earn a little extra money through overtime.
Oxnam’s charges stem from paying fellow firefighters up to $200 to call in sick when he was up for the next overtime opportunity. The result: the city paid twice for the same shift. That’s because the city paid one employee sick leave and overtime to Oxnam to cover the “sick” employee’s shift, according to the indictment.
Since Oxnam, a 19-year veteran, was approaching retirement and the final three years of income are used to calculate monthly pension benefits, the overtime dollars could boost his monthly retirement check, the indictment said.
Pension spiking by working overtime isn’t illegal. But Oxnam engaged in fraud to pursue it by paying firefighters to call in sick.
Oxnam was paid $31,689 in overtime pay for 2013. His final salary for that year was $109,935.
Oxnam’s attorney Mike Storie said his client retired from the department Dec. 16.
“He’s taken full responsibility for his actions and regrets that he has placed any other firefighters in jeopardy,” Storie said.
TFD Chief James Critchley learned of the problem in March and reported it to Tucson police.
Tucson police opened an investigation and then turned it over to the Attorney General’s Office.
Institutional Irregularities
The investigation revealed widespread “irregularities” on how the Fire Department conducted and documented shift trades and other types of leave.
Although widespread, the Attorney General’s Office said TFD management’s culture of lax oversight and murky personnel rules prevented others from facing criminal charges.
“TFD’s institutional tolerance of shift trade/leave manipulations compounded by tacit managerial approval and/or poor oversight of documentation made criminal prosecution untenable,” court documents show.
“The undersigned prosecutor felt it would be an unjust exercise of prosecutorial discretion to single out one employee for conduct that was widely tolerated in the department.”
Since Oxnam’s fraud differed from TFD’s everyday, dubious practices, the Attorney General’s Office moved ahead with charges against him, court records show.
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said the city manager’s office will now open an investigation into TFD’s management practices to determine if any employees should be disciplined and scrutinize current practices.
“If it’s discovered that others have been abusing the public trust, they should not hold a position that bears the name of the city of Tucson,” Rothschild said.
Rothschild said he will request a professional audit of the TFD’s polices and personnel procedures.
Since Critchley reported the fraud, Councilwoman Karin Uhlich said she’s confident he and the city manager will implement an aggressive action plan to straighten out the department’s issues.
Councilman Steve Kozachik said taxpayers are the losers as a result of mismanagement.
“They took their eye off the ball, got lazy and now need to institute effective management controls, or step aside and let somebody else run the department who will,” Kozachik said. “Bottom line, dishonesty and poor management ended up screwing the taxpayers again.”
Critchley said he would review the records and take appropriate steps.
“Now that the grand jury has issued an indictment, I will have an opportunity to view the criminal investigation records for the first time,” Critchley wrote in an email.
Critchley said he corrected the department’s work-time tracking record in April.
He said he wasn’t aware of the other allegations and anticipates additional changes after he reviews the records.
The city and the TFD’s union are currently negotiating a new labor contract.
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