Welcome back to FOIA Files! In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Inspector General announced it wrapped up an investigation that found a few SEC employees were living their best lives on the green, playing 18 holes at a public golf course when they said they were working from home. One of the employees resigned and two were suspended when they were confronted with the evidence last year. I had a feeling the inspector general’s full investigative report would make for pretty good reading. I wasn’t wrong. After filing a Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of it, the report landed in my inbox this week. If you’re not already getting FOIA Files in your inbox, sign up here.

The SEC IG invested a lot of time and effort probing the employees’ golf outings. The probe lasted nearly three years — from January 2022 through December 2024, the 11-page report said.

It started after the agency’s Office of the General Counsel received an anonymous tip from a person who overheard a conversation at a Maryland golf course where a few golfers discussed “Sec life.” One of the golfers remarked that, “golf is great on the taxpayer’s dime,” according to the report, which was dated Dec. 22, 2025.

The tipster’s email identified one employee by his first name and suggested he worked in information technology or communications. Using the agency’s directory, investigators confirmed his identity. Ultimately, they determined that three SEC employees were involved: an information technology supervisor, his subordinate and another employee who worked in the same department. Their names were redacted from the report.

Tee time

In addition to reviewing the employees’ timecard records, investigators inspected documentation from a company that handles tee-time reservations, and even conducted surveillance at the golf course.

On Sept. 20, 2024, investigators photographed two of the employees arriving at the course at “approximately 1:15 p.m. After unloading their clubs and practicing on the putting green, they started golfing at 1:43 p.m.”

About a month later, investigators photographed one of the SEC employees arriving at the golf course at 11:57 a.m. with another federal government employee, who was not affiliated with the SEC. The government workers, according to the intel gathered, “practiced on the driving range, and started golfing at 12:31 p.m. They returned their golf cart at approximately 5:00 p.m.”

A week later, two of the SEC employees arrived to hit the links at 10:47 a.m. They “practiced putting, and started golfing at 11:12 a.m. They returned their golf carts at approximately 4:00 p.m.”

The three employees, who earned salaries between $100,000 and $209,000, played golf or made a golf reservation a combined 26 times between March 2022 and November 2024 while on the clock, according to the IG report.

‘Always on call’

When the IG’s investigator interviewed one of the SEC employees in March 2025 and explained “the allegation of golfing during work hours,” the employee said he wanted a lawyer and the interview ended. A couple months later, he was interviewed by the investigator with his attorney present. The employee said he was on teams that he thought allowed him to “flex” his time and explained that he was “always on call while at the golf course.”

When asked by the OIG, “you think that, being responsive - you’re golfing, and then you can just answer your phone on the course, and that means you’re working [?]”

“Well, yeah,” he responded.

The IG investigator interviewed the employee’s boss, who was shown surveillance photos of his employee golfing during work hours. He said he never authorized it, was “shocked” and thought the conduct “was blatant.” Another manager who spoke to the IG investigator said his employee “joked’ about golfing ‘on the job,’” but didn’t “take this seriously.”

The second employee said he thought he was taking “leave” when he golfed during work hours. He also said he believed his flexible schedule allowed him to golf during work hours because he was “on call.”

The third employee said the same thing during his interview and added that he worked extra hours to make up for any time he missed when he was supposed to be working, the report said.

The IG presented the case to the US Attorney’s Office in Washington last year, but prosecutors declined to pursue charges. The IG then referred its findings to the SEC. The agency later reported that one of the employees resigned. Two of the others were suspended after being informed of the investigation’s findings.

As for the other federal government employee who was photographed at the golf course, the IG report said it informed that agency’s IG.

For the love of golf.

*FOIA Files will be off next week for the Juneteenth holiday

Got a tip to share about the SEC? Do you have details to disclose about the current state of the FOIA? Or a document you think I should request? Send me an email: jleopold15@bloomberg.net or jasonleopold@protonmail.com. Or send me a secure message on Signal: @JasonLeopold.666.

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