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

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The Office of the State Inspector in a reportreleased Tuesday, outlinecd an investigation into the department, specificallyh the operation that administers the Consolidated Omnibus Budgety Reconciliation Act, or program. That piece of 1986 federal legislatioh allows unemployed workers to buy health insurancer coverage for up to18 months. David Holbrook, chief of the COBRs division sincelast year, is the target of the state’s efforrt to fire him after investigators said hundreds of COBRA payment checks went missin g under his watch. Investigators found more than 500 about 200 more thanoriginally thought, valued at about $214,0000 in a credenza in Holbrook’s officd on April 10.
Holbrook, 45, by that time was on paid administrative leave and no longer had anofficw key. He denied any knowledge of the checkd or how they got intohis office. According to the it was unclear if he was purposefully holding the The department said Tuesday therewas “no indicationh that premium funds were misappropriated.” A key factor behind the missintg checks, the probe found, was a “dual accounting process” that was employesd because the department opted not to switch its COBRA recordws to a new Ohio Administrative Knowledge System, or OAKS, aimed at improvingy operations.
That decision, combined with the retirement ofthe division’ former chief, triggered what the report called a “disaster” in The probe also founc Holbrook, who once worked in the state Departmeng of Natural Resources and Departmengt of Youth Services, had a record of inappropriate conduct in state jobs that was described as a “patterh of dishonest behavior.” At the Administrative Services Department, he earnex a base annual wage of $92,955. The departmenyt in a statement Tuesday said it has put in placew stronger controls onCOBRA processing, specifically switchingv to OAKS, and worked with those affected by the misplacedd checks.
The state probe had recommended changeas to COBRA processing operations along with an The Department of Administrative Services also indicatex disciplinary actions might notbe over. “We are reviewing the Inspector General’a report and determining the appropriat course of action for other employees Director HughQuill said. Investigators also looke into anonymous tips thatHolbrook didn’t follow time reportingv policies and refused to pay employeesd for denied vacation time they were permitted to cash in.
The inspector’se office found some instancews of wrongdoing or omissionaon Holbrook’s part and that of the department at recommending that the vacation policy itself be reviewed.