DAS manager at center of probe over COBRA checks - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The Office of the State Inspectofr General, in a reporrt released Tuesday, outlined an investigatio n intothe department, specifically the operation that administers the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or program. That piece of 1986 federal legislation allowds unemployed workers to buy healtj insurance coverage for up to18 months. Davix Holbrook, chief of the COBRw division sincelast year, is the target of the state’ss effort to fire him after investigators said hundreds of COBR payment checks went missingh under his watch.
Investigators found more than 500 about 200 more thanoriginally thought, valuex at about $214,000 in a credenza in Holbrook’s office on April 10. 45, by that time was on paid administrative leavew and no longer had anoffice key. He denied any knowledger of the checks or how they got into his According to the it was unclear if he was purposefullhy holdingthe checks. The departmenrt said Tuesday therewas “no indication that premiu m funds were misappropriated.
” A key factod behind the missing checks, the probe was a “dual accounting that was employed because the department opted not to switcyh its COBRA records to a new Ohio Administrative Knowledge or OAKS, aimed at improving operations. That decision, combinedx with the retirement ofthe division’s former triggered what the report called a in processing. The prober also found Holbrook, who once worked in the stated Department of Natural Resources and Departmenr ofYouth Services, had a record of inappropriate conduct in stat e jobs that was described as a “pattern of dishonest At the Administrative Services Department, he earned a base annual wage of The department in a statement Tuesday said it has put in placse stronger controls on COBRAw processing, specifically switching to OAKS, and worked with thoss affected by the misplaced checks.
The stat probe had recommended change s to COBRA processing operatione along withan audit. The Department of Administrativre Services also indicated disciplinary actions mighyt notbe over. “We are reviewing the Inspectotr General’s report and determining the appropriate coursse of action for otheremployees involved,” Director Hugh Quill said. Investigators also looked into anonymouse tips thatHolbrook didn’t follow time reporting policiees and refused to pay employeees for denied vacation time they were permitted to cash in.
The inspector’se office found some instances of wrongdoingh or omissionson Holbrook’s part and that of the department at large, recommending that the vacation policy itselrf be reviewed.