What did the taxpayer watchdog say about the approval process?
The mayor’s office said Friday that a Baltimore employee accused of defrauding a pandemic relief program of more than $2.5 million will not attend a taxpayer-funded conference in Texas, reversing course two days after the city’s Board of Estimates approved the trip.
The board approved spending $2,751 to send Kara DiPietro, a senior official in the Department of General Services’ Fleet Management division, to the business conference Wednesday — one day after federal prosecutors publicly announced her indictment. The reversal leaves questions about how the expense received approval and what action Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration has taken since she was charged…