At first glance, it’s hard to imagine getting into legal hot water for writing and publishing a children’s book promoting healthy habits for children.
But that’s what happened to Catherine Pugh, who resigned as mayor of Baltimore in May.
Pugh had written a series of Healthy Holly books and had sold them to the Baltimore public school system.
Most of the “Healthy Holly” books, promoting healthy eating and exercise habits, were never distributed to children as had been promised, the authorities said. Instead, thousands of copies were found in a Baltimore City Public School System warehouse; others were stored in Ms. Pugh’s offices and in one of her houses.
Federal prosecutors said the children’s book series was at the heart of an elaborate scheme orchestrated by Ms. Pugh to defraud health care companies, Baltimore’s school system and taxpayers by failing to deliver copies of the books that had been paid for.Source: Catherine Pugh, Former Baltimore Mayor, Indicted on Fraud Charges Over Book Scandal – The New York Times
This is a story that just leaves me shaking my head.
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