Baltimore County Man Indicted for Allegedly Scamming Over $215,000 In Overtime Pay, Evading Taxes

BALTIMORE COUNTY - On Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Maryland announced the indictment of Lawrence E. Smith, 49, of Perry Hall, for allegedly obtaining over $215,000 in overtime pay and attempting to evade federal income taxes.

The indictment was returned on September 7, 2023, and revealed on Friday following Smith's arrest. His initial appearance in court is scheduled for 2:15 PM today before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Smith has been employed by the Baltimore City School Police since 2005 and was promoted to detective in 2016, overseeing the School Police Overtime Unit. In this capacity, Smith coordinated and scheduled overtime work for school police officers, including himself.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was authorized to receive overtime pay for providing security at COVID testing and food distribution sites and at community centers, hospitals, and homeless shelters.

The indictment alleges that Smith fraudulently claimed overtime pay for work he did not perform from January 2019 to August 2022. He is accused of falsely reporting his physical presence at various assignments while he was actually at home, running personal errands, or even out of state. The indictment is seeking a monetary judgment of $215,352, the alleged proceeds of the fraud scheme.

Smith has also been charged with filing false W-4 forms, claiming he was exempt from federal income tax withholding. He is also accused of failing to file individual income tax returns for the years 2017, 2019, and 2020, as well as filing a false tax return for 2018.

If convicted, Smith could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count, up to five years for each count of tax evasion, and up to three years for filing a false tax return.

U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the efforts of the FBI and IRS-CI in the investigation. He also thanked the Maryland Office of Inspector General for Education, the Office of Inspector General for the City of Baltimore, and the Baltimore Police Department for their cooperation in the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Goo and Matthew Phelps are prosecuting the federal case.

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