Page 19 - University of Baltimore Law - Fall 2019

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SECOND CAREER CHOICE IF SHE HADN’T GONE TO LAW SCHOOL: FBI special agent
ON MENTORING: “I’ve mentored 27 people, all at UB Law. It’s so important. I’ve been doing it since 1994. I currently have two interns in my office, both UB law students.”
HER TALK TO NEW BALTIMORE CITY EMPLOYEES: “I give them a business card with our phone number and tell them if you see something that doesn’t seem right — even if you’re told it’s always been done that way — to call me.”
ON RETURNING PHONE CALLS: “My office always calls people back who call the hotline within two business days. The citizens gave us the tools we need to fight fraud, so we always try to respond to their concerns.”
For Baltimore’s Isabel Cumming, Fighting Fraud is a Dream Job
or Isabel Mercedes Cumming, J.D. ’93, fighting fraud is personal. “I don’t like to see people ripped off,” says Baltimore’s first female inspector general. “I’m like a mama bear when I see people being bullied or defrauded. I can’t stand it.”
So it’s no surprise that after she was appointed as Baltimore’s inspector general in early 2018 — filling a 16-month vacancy in an office not noted for its zeal in uncovering fraud — hotline calls had jumped from 74 to over 400, office staffing more than doubled to 14, the office had uncovered financial waste and fraud that saved taxpayers more than a million dollars, 17 investigations were under way, and a handful of people in city government had lost their jobs.
“It was a huge change,” Cumming says. “We had five front-page stories in the newspaper in a matter of months. People now know that we’re here.”
The source of her crime-fighting passion?
“I absolutely would not be where I am today without UB,” says Cumming, 57, who attended UB Law at night while working as the director of audit at a bank after earning an MBA at UB in 1989. “Its incredible night school program changed my life. UB was always the best place for people who had to work but wanted to get a great law education.”
While a UB student, Cumming was a founder of the Criminal Law Association, the evening vice president of the Student Bar Association, and a fellow in the Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics. “It helped instill how important ethics are to law students,” she says.
Cumming returned to Baltimore City and her new job after a seven-year stint as the deputy inspector general of investigations for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which oversees the subway and transit system for three jurisdictions: D.C., Maryland
“The true victims of corruption
and financial waste are the
citizens of Baltimore, and it is
my job to fight that.”
—ISABEL MERCEDES CUMMING, J.D. ’93
and Virginia. “It was a very political job,” she says. “That’s where I truly learned to stay away from politics and focus on the job at hand.”
Previous roles included serving in the economic crimes units in the Prince George’s County, Md., and Baltimore City state’s attorney’s offices, and seven years as an assistant state prosecutor for Maryland. She credits those years in the State Prosecutor’s Office as when she honed her skills in fraud investigation, handling numerous high-profile cases of corruption and misconduct of elected officials around the state.
The IG’s office got another boost last year when Baltimore voters approved a charter amendment to make it independent.
“Eighty-four percent of voters approved it,” Cumming notes. “The office has been around since 2005, but the post was always appointed by the mayor. Our office is now set up like the state prosecutor. We’re following best practices for inspector general offices, with a term of office and an oversight group that includes the deans of both Maryland law schools. We’re much more transparent and independent.”
Cumming’s background as a prosecutor is perfect for fighting white-collar crime. “Isabel is the right person in the right job at the right time,” says Maryland deputy state prosecutor and UB Law alumna Kelly Madigan, J.D. ’04. “As a former prosecutor, she’s our strategic partner in pursuing corruption. She refers a lot of cases to our office. I can’t do this job alone.”
Cumming’s entire career has been as a fraud fighter, except for
a brief stint as a Rule 16 prosecutor while at UB, where she handled juvenile and street crimes. That was enlightening. “While doing that criminal clinic in Baltimore City, I’d see people who had horrible lives and you could almost understand why they might commit crimes,” Cumming says. “But with financial and corruption cases, it’s all about greed. It is the sense of entitlement or power. The true victims of corruption and financial waste are the citizens of Baltimore, and it is my job to fight that. This is truly my dream job.” —Joe Surkiewicz
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