Generous HUD employees donated nearly 700 hours of their leave time to help out an ill colleague. The only problem? There was nothing wrong with him
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A former employee of the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been arrested on charges of fraud after he allegedly faked cancer to get extra days off.
Timothy J. Oravec, 59, was charged with defrauding HUD. Authorities said that in 2013, Oravec falsely told his supervisor and coworkers at HUD that he had been diagnosed with cancer and would need to be absent from work. As a result, he received donated leave time as part of HUD’s voluntary leave transfer program. Other HUD employees donated nearly 700 hours of their vacation time to allow Oravec leave time to battle his wholly fictitious disease. He allegedly used most of the donated time to miss work, while being paid more than $24,000 in salary.
The indictment also alleged that to prop up the scheme, Oravec faked letters from multiple medical providers and gave the phony letters to his supervisors. The letters purported to describe the treatments he was undergoing for cancer. In fact, authorities say, Oravec was receiving no treatment of any kind and created the letters himself.
If convicted, Oravec could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
