Baltimore City Hall has entered into a fierce back and forth with the city’s inspector general over accusations of fraud after a city-run program allegedly splurged at baseball games. 

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming have been trapped in a ruthless debate over the city’s spending after a report exposed potential fraud in a recent investigation.

A report from the inspector general’s office alleged that the city racked up around $50,000 on food, including crab cakes and Old Bay-seasoned chicken wings, in the city-owned skyboxes during Orioles and Ravens games, originally reported by the Wall Street Journal. 

Cumming alleged that there had been excessive spending on ‘birthday celebrations, employee appreciations, baby showers and flowers for a selective few,’ and that certain food purchases had lacked a waiver of completion – which the city said in a statement to the Daily Mail was ‘not originally brought to our staff’s attention.’

The statement further stated that once staff were informed of the expenditures ‘a waiver could not be issued.’ 

‘The percentage of purchases that lacked a waiver equated to 0.19 percent of the Mayor’s Office budget over the time period reviewed,’ the city’s statement continued.  

‘Witnesses stated the food and beverage is purchased when the Mayor or Mayor’s Office staff attend games in the Mayoral Suite at both stadiums. Witnesses claimed that this has been a practice of prior mayoral administrations,’ the report obtained by the Daily Mail stated. 

‘Additionally, correspondence reviewed from 2025 stated an executive in the Mayor’s Office would like a “fresh fruit tray available to everyone in the mayor’s suite daily.”’

A second report on the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood and Safety and Engagement Response said that their investigation ‘uncovered fraudulent invoices and an exposure of juvenile information, which both have been referred to law enforcement.’

Scott responded by challenging the inspector general’s ‘characterizations and implications’ regarding the city’s spending.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming have been trapped in a ruthless debate over the city’s spending after a report exposed potential fraud in a recent investigation

A report from the inspector general’s office alleged that a city-run youth-diversion program racked up around $50,000 on crab cakes and Old Bay chicken wings in the city-owned skyboxes during Orioles and Ravens games

Cumming, seen above, alleged that there had been excessive spending on ‘birthday celebrations, employee appreciations, baby showers and flowers for a selective few’

The Democratic mayor defended the spending and said the stadium expenditure often includes invites to ‘everyday Baltimoreans’ and city workers. 

The feud turned personal as Scott’s office pointed out Cumming’s X account followed ‘Trump aligned MAGA’ accounts, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

Meanwhile, Cumming apologized for sharing an AI-generated photo of Scott smoking a cigar among piles of money. 

The inspector general quickly apologized for the post, while Scott said he was ‘very disappointed’ by the image. 

‘That just adds on to the fire that we’re talking about, like, oh yeah, it is a young Black guy, he has to be corrupt,’ Scott said, per the outlet.

The mayor’s office filed an ethics complaint not long after and questioned Cumming’s objectivity.  

The reports, however, also sent the public into a rage as they wondered where their taxpayer money was being spent. 

Beth Hawks told the hearing at City Hall that ‘as taxpayers have every right to know where our dollars are going’ and said the scandal’s exposure was ‘no different than the Epstein files.’ 

A second report on the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood and Safety and Engagement Response said that their investigation ‘uncovered fraudulent invoices and an exposure of juvenile information, which both have been referred to law enforcement’

The investigation sparked a fierce fight over access to records after the city handed heavily redacted records to Cumming in January

David Paleologos, the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston, said: ‘People who can’t pay their own bills are saying, “I pay my taxes, I’m working three jobs… [while officials] are just blowing money on crab dinners and [sky] boxes and all of these extra amenities.’

Scott and Cumming began their spat when the investigation into the youth program began, as she criticized it for a reel of issues including poor data collection, the Journal reported. 

After the program ended in 2024, Cumming then took two invoices that were potentially fraudulent to law enforcement, according to the outlet. 

But the investigation sparked a fierce fight over access to records after the city handed heavily redacted records to Cumming in January. 

When she requested the full documents, however, she was ignored and the city later announced it had discovered ‘unapproved and unfettered access’ to legally protected and confidential documentation.

‘Just like that our access was gone,’ Baltimore’s Deputy Inspector General Matt Neil told the City Council committee, according to the Journal. 

Resident Carson Ward added, regarding the city appearing to dodge revealing records, that, ‘any [financial] waste is an injustice to the people. Transparency is not a threat to those who have nothing to hide.’ 

The Daily Mail reached out to Mayor Scott’s office and Baltimore City for comment.