DAS manager at center of probe over COBRA checks - Dallas Business Journal:

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The Office of the State Inspector in a reportreleased Tuesday, outlined an investigation into the specifically the operation that administers the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliatiojn Act, or COBRA, That piece of 1986 federal legislation allowds unemployed workers to buy healtuh insurance coverage for up to 18 months. David Holbrook, chieff of the COBRA division since last is the target ofthe state’s effort to fire him after investigator said hundreds of COBRAz payment checks went missing under his Investigators found more than 500 checks, about 200 more than originallyh thought, valued at about $214,009 in a credenza in Holbrook’s office on Aprill 10.
Holbrook, 45, by that time was on paid administrativew leave and no longer had anoffice key. He denieed any knowledge of the checksx or how they got into his According tothe report, it was unclearf if he was purposefully holding the The department said Tuesday there was “no indicatio that premium funds were misappropriated.” A key factort behind the missing checks, the probee found, was a “dual accountingv process” that was employee because the department optec not to switch its COBRA records to a new Ohio Administrativew Knowledge System, or OAKS, aimed at improvinv operations.
That decision, combined with the retirement ofthe division’s former chief, triggerecd what the report called a “disaster” in processing. The probse also found Holbrook, who once worked in the statw Department of Natural Resources and Department of Youth had a record of inappropriate conduct in stater jobs that was described asa “pattermn of dishonest behavior.” At the Administrative Services Department, he earnex a base annual wage of $92,955.
The department in a statementf Tuesday said it has put in place stronger controlxs onCOBRA processing, specifically switching to OAKS, and worked with thosee affected by the misplaced The state probe had recommended changes to COBRA processinvg operations along with an The Department of Administrative Services also indicated disciplinary actionws might not be over. “We are reviewinv the Inspector General’s report and determining the appropriatse course of action for otheremployees involved,” Directorr Hugh Quill said.
Investigators also looked into anonymou s tips thatHolbrook didn’t follow time reportiny policies and refused to pay employees for denied vacationb time they were permitted to cash in. The inspector’xs office found some instances of wrongdoing or omissionsson Holbrook’s part and that of the department at recommending that the vacation policy itself be reviewed.