A longtime Department of Homeland Security employee pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding the federal government of nearly $250,000 by secretly working as a paid contractor for multiple other agencies while drawing a full-time federal salary.
Richeline Anisso Fung, 46, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, and formerly of Maryland, entered her plea in U.S. District Court to making false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Fung was a full-time employee of DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) from September 2016 through October 2025. Court documents show that between January 2021 and August 2024, she simultaneously held contractor positions with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, the Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She carried out some of that work directly and some through her Florida-registered company, RAF Pro-Consulting, LLC, incorporated in 2020.
According to prosecutors, Fung concealed her outside contracting work from her supervisors at CISA while hiding her full-time federal employment from the agencies paying her as a contractor. After relocating from Maryland to Florida, she worked remotely, which prosecutors say made it easier to keep the arrangement going.
To collect pay from multiple sources at once, Fung routinely submitted timesheets that overstated her hours — in some cases claiming more than 24 hours of work in a single day. In February 2022 alone, while employed by CISA and three separate contractors serving USDA, FHWA, and DOJ, her combined reported hours exceeded 24 in a day on 15 occasions. She claimed 33 hours of work on February 7, 8, 9, and 10, and 32 hours on February 11.
Prosecutors say the scheme cost the federal government close to $250,000. As part of her plea agreement, Fung must pay full restitution.
Officials’ Response
“Richeline Fung stole a quarter-million dollars from the American taxpayer, and today she stands as a convicted felon who will be required to pay full restitution,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “Let this be unmistakable: if you defraud the American people, federal agents will come knocking. Nationwide initiatives across federal agencies are rapidly detecting, rooting out, and prosecuting wrongdoing to protect every taxpayer dollar as part of President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.”
“No profession is immune from prosecution,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Richeline Fung abused her positions as a federal employee and government contractor to steal nearly $250,000 from the U.S. government. Public service is a public trust, not an opportunity to defraud American taxpayers. We will continue to hold accountable anyone who defrauds the United States, regardless of title or agency.”
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan accepted Fung’s guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for January 20, 2027.
Part of a Broader Pattern
Fung’s case is one of several recent prosecutions tied to fraud by government insiders. In June, DHS brought federal charges against immigration attorneys accused of falsifying asylum claims. In December 2025, Los Angeles County employees were charged with collecting more than $700,000 in fraudulent pandemic-relief claims. Earlier in 2025, the FBI charged a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol director with defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Those cases have moved forward alongside continuing work by the White House Fraud Task Force, the FBI, and the Justice Department to identify fraud committed by federal employees and contractors themselves.
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