CareerSource: Read the entire investigation

Tampa Bay Times reporters Mark Puente and Zachary T. Sampson have reported for more than 11 months on questionable financial practices at CareerSource Pinellas and CareerSource Tampa Bay, two job placement agencies that collect millions in federal tax dollars. The Times revealed how the local offices took credit for finding jobs for thousands of people who never sought help. Amid the fallout, the boards of directors at both agencies fired former CEO Edward Peachey. County Commissions in Pinellas and Hillsborough ousted many board members, and multiple employees were fired. The watchdog coverage led to state and federal investigations, including a criminal probe by the FBI. Read the stories below.

Feb. 14, 2018

CareerSource centers took credit for thousands of hires they had nothing to do with

Both CareerSource Tampa Bay and its sister agency, CareerSource Pinellas, took credit for finding thousands of jobs for people who never registered for help. CLICK TO READ MORE

May 16, 2018

Payroll records show $3.1 million in bonuses, incentives at CareerSource centers

Two Tampa Bay jobs centers paid $3.1 million in incentives and bonuses in recent years to employees who helped them record more hirings than any workforce board in Florida. CLICK TO READ MORE

June 21, 2018

Tampa Bay job centers gave away millions in gift cards and boosted hiring totals

Tampa Bay’s two largest job placement agencies handed out $6 million in Visa and gas cards since 2014 – all paid for with public tax dollars – and a share of that money went to people who didn’t use the centers to find work and never had to account for how they spent it. CLICK TO READ MORE

March 21, 2018

Tampa Bay jobs centers entered thousands of fictitious phone numbers in state network

In more than a quarter of all their entries — more than 35,000 over a four-year period — CareerSource Pinellas and CareerSource TampaBay included the same unusual phone number: 999-999-9999. CLICK TO READ MORE

Feb. 16, 2018

Amid CareerSource controversy, allegations of a love affair, big raises and family favoritism at the top

Staffers said the CEO and a top administrator at both local CareerSource offices were romantically involved, though both leaders denied the allegations. Several of her relatives also got jobs at the centers. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

May 2, 2018

They were supposed to watch over CareerSource. Many didn’t show up.

With millions of tax dollars at stake, the board members of the two local job centers were supposed to attend quarterly meetings to scrutinize spending and policy decisions. But many members rarely bothered to show up. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Feb. 28, 2018

CareerSource jobs chief Edward Peachey now out of work on both sides of Tampa Bay

The head of the two agencies once considered leaders in the state at helping people find work is fired on both sides of Tampa Bay. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

May 23, 2018

CareerSource Pinellas bought a science center. Now the bill is coming due.

With a $586,000 bill looming, critics questioned how the center — a once popular field trip and summer camp spot with few science exhibits but several fish tanks — fit into the mission of CareerSource Pinellas. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Oct. 5, 2018

FBI takes over investigation of Tampa Bay’s CareerSource jobs centers as state audit launches

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office took over multiple investigations into whether the two Tampa Bay jobs centers overstated their success at using tax dollars to help people find work. CLICK TO READ MORE

Jan. 29, 2018

CareerSource leader Ed Peachey, once considered Mr. Fix It, now under scrutiny

CareerSource Pinellas and CareerSource Tampa Bay CEO Edward Peachey faced the kind of controversy that years before he might have been brought in to fix. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE