FBI Checks for Criminal Records on Health and Human Services Employees

WASHINGTON —  The FBI is checking its records for criminal files on 41,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services in an attempt to spot workers who might try to steal government money by computer, officials said Thursday.

HHS Inspector General Richard Kusserow said the effort was initiated by the department after an audit that identified 46 employees who stole funds by manipulating computer programs. In those cases, the average theft was about $46,000, but losses in nine cases exceeded $100,000.

The investigation was begun quietly last month after it was mentioned in the Federal Register as a routine check on agency officials. Department employees received no other notification.

An official of a federal employees union representing some HHS workers called the criminal checks typical of the Reagan Administration’s “witch hunt style.”

The record checks will be used to identify employees who have not disclosed criminal records to the agency and who work in jobs in which they could issue funds to themselves by computer, Kusserow said.