Atlanta-Based TSA Agent Allegedly Faked Illness For Years

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A former TSA agent in Atlanta who allegedly decided to step up his hooky game is now looking at federal embezzlement charges after investigators discovered he had been calling in sick to work without actually being sick, according to a report.

Now, most of us probably know someone who has used their best raspy voice to skip out on a day in the office once or twice, but Marc Bess is accused of going above and beyond for all the wrong reasons. According to WSB-TV, Bess lied to his employers, saying that he was battling cancer despite being perfectly healthy. His fight against his not-at-all-real cancer allowed him to skip out on work days for five years.

According to an investigation reported on by WSB-TV, Bess provided the federal government with doctor’s notes detailing the extensive procedures he was undergoing to treat his illness. The government accepted these notes as legitimate until a bit of investigation turned up one glaring omission on Bess’ part: the doctor he said was treating him was dead.

Not ready to accept the word of a zombie oncologist, investigators started digging deeper into Bess’ claims and discovered he had claimed 2,240 hours of sick leave, or approximately 280 eight-hour work days, over a five year period. Court documents acquired by WSB-TV show that most of that sick leave was donated by Bess’ coworkers, who gave up their time off likely believing they were helping a gravely ill colleague.

Bess has since been let go by the federal government, but will be back in a federal courtroom on May 11 to enter a plea on charges of embezzlement and theft of public funds.

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