Complaint targets comptroller
Former state official files with AG, says false claims in report cost him a job
The former deputy chief information officer for the state Office for Technology contends a scathing 2012 state audit contained phony claims and cost him his next job in Baltimore.
Rico Singleton, who now lives outside Dallas, filed a complaint with Attorney General Letitia James that squarely pointed the finger at state Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli’s office. It included internal emails, internal memos and travel receipts to buoy Singleton’s case, according to documents provided in an email by his Texas-based attorney, Michael A. Lowery.
The 2012 audit said top Office for Technology officials wasted $1.5 million in tax dollars and ignored their own policies to give business to favored firms. It said Singleton, now 40, substantially negotiated a multimillion-dollar contract with Mcafee, the software security company, as he set up a job there for his girlfriend.
And it said Singleton’s behavior “during and immediately after negotiations with Mcafee raises serious questions regarding his motivations,” adding, “In fact, on several occasions throughout the negotiations and implementation of this multi-million dollar contract with Mcafee, it appears Deputy CIO Singleton violated the public’s trust.”
Singleton, who joined OFT in September 2007 and left in December 2010, was working as the top IT officer for the city of Baltimore when the audit came out in February 2012. Within hours of its release, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-blake announced Singleton’s resignation.
In the complaint filed March 28, Singleton said Dinapoli’s auditors made false allegations against him – two years after he left the job — without ever speaking to him.
“In corporate parlance, it’s called ‘blame the dead guy,’” Lowery said in a news release. “The conduct of the comptroller’s office definitely warrants a serious investigation.”
In October, Singleton’s attorney asked former Attorney General Barbara Underwood to investigate Dinapoli’s office and its handling of the audit.
“The actions of the comptroller’s office have caused severe damage to both Mr. Singleton’s personal and professional reputations,” Lowery wrote.
Mark Johnson, a spokesman for Dinapoli, said it was not the policy of the comptroller’s office to comment on complaints or lawsuits.
Singleton alleged the actions of the comptroller “raise the prospect that the audit was conceived and executed for fraudulent purposes to cover up the conduct of other parties.”
According to Singleton, emails show he did not use his position to get his girlfriend a job. He contends he has documentation to refute claims he wrongly negotiated the contract with Mcafee and caused a $1.5 million loss to the state. Singleton noted Mcafee has a long-standing relationship with the state.
Contrary to the audit’s claim that he accepted improper travel benefits from Mcafee, which included trips to Las Vegas, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, travel receipts show it was approved and paid for by the state or Singleton, he argued.
The audit, which covered a period from April 1, 2008 to Dec. 2, 2011, examined whether OFT’S procurement and contracting practices resulted in the best value for taxpayers consistent with applicable legal, regulatory and ethical requirements.
Dinapoli’s office ordered the audit after OFT submitted a contract for staff augmentation valued at $7.5 billion. The office found the contract overstated the state’s IT consultant spending.