Wild 'slush fund' spending of Philly cop who posted glowing fake news stories written by ChatGPT on her own website and 'lost' 76 department guns

You've met America's 'worst mayor' Tiffany Henyard, and now meet the woman who may be the country's worst sheriff.

Rochelle Bilal is currently the deputy sheriff for the City and County of Philadelphia, and has been for the last four years - but she has recently been embroiled in scandal, including frivolous spending, maintaining a secret 'slush fund,' and allegedly losing 76 guns from her department. 

Bilal's campaign team also came forward and acknowledged that 30 fake positive 'news' stories posted to their site were generated by ChatGPT after the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that outlets could not find the stories in their archives.

The stories were written by a consultant using the AI chatbot in hopes of overshadowing the existing bad press - which is just one of the many scandals reported by the  Inquirer about Bilal in recent months.  

Rochelle Bilal (pictured) is currently the deputy sheriff for the City and County of Philadelphia, and has been for the last four years

Bilal she said her office is severely underfunded to the point that she is unable to provide supplies to her deputies, but spared no expense for her office's new mascot, Deputy Sheriff Mascot (pictured right, next to the sheriff herself)

Bilal (pictured) and her team have been caught up in recent scandal

Bilal (left) is running for re-election despite the negative press she's been receiving

Bilal's team maintains that the news stories were based on events that have actually happened. 

'Our campaign provided the outside consultant talking points which were then provided to the AI service,' the campaign said in a statement. 

'It is now clear that the artificial intelligence service generated fake news articles to support the initiatives that were part of the AI prompt.'

Her campaign website titled the series of stories her 'Record of Accomplishments,' but have recently added a disclaimer about the information.

Regarding the accuracy of the stories, that the stories 'makes no representations or warranties of any kind.'

Bilal's campaign team recently came forward and acknowledged that 30 fake positive 'news' stories posted to their site were generated by ChatGPT

She is also accused of losing track of nearly 200 guns from the sheriff's office arsenal

Bilal blamed the misplaced guns on the previous administration

Brett Mandel, who briefly served as her finance chief in 2020, said he had 'grave concerns' about Bilal.

'I think we have seen at the local and national level, not only a disregard for truth and the institutions we have thought of as being the gatekeepers to truth,' he said, 'but I think we have eroded all trust in this area.'

Back in September, Philadelphia's City Controller Charles Edacheril reported that Bilal's office could not account for 185 guns. This includes 76 guns that were part of the Sheriff's Office's arsenal and 109 weapons that were confiscated from people subject to protection-from-abuse orders.

Bilal and Undersheriff Tariq El-Shabazz denied these claims, blaming previous administrations for poor recordkeeping and haphazard storage procedures, making it impossible to account for guns that were not properly logged before Bilal took office in January 2020.

Although last year, Bilal she said her office is severely underfunded to the point that she is unable to provide supplies to her deputies, she spared no expense for her office's new mascot, Deputy Sheriff Mascot.

Investigative reporters from the Inquirer found that Bilal's recent off-budget expenditures came from a 'slush' fund

The deputy as well as her team have refused to comment

The mascot debuted at the Thanksgiving Day parade, and was made by the same costume designer that has crafted outfits for some of the most famous characters in entertainment, such as the Geico Gecko.

But despite claiming the department doesn't even have enough money to afford supplies for her fellow deputies, Bilal's administration cut two checks totaling $9,250 to Pierre's Mascots & Costumes, tapping an internal bank account full of public money to do so.

The proceeds from fees the Sheriff's Office charges for various services like property sales, evictions, and writs are what funded this check account as well as hundreds of other recent off-budget expenditures, according to the investigating reporting team at the Inquirer.

A 2022 audit by the city controller and an opinion from the city Law Department claim that costs like this are in violation of Philadelphia's Home Rule Charter.  

According to the charter, fees are public funds that belong in the city's coffers and are distributed by the mayor and City Council as part of the yearly budgeting process. 

According to the charter, fees are public funds that belong in the city's coffers and are distributed by the mayor and City Council as part of the yearly budgeting process

In reality, that money has been used to buy a variety of promotional things such Rochelle Bilal trading cards, as well as items like filing cabinets, Tasers, and ammo. The sheriff is pictured second from left, on her campaign trail before she was given her position 

In reality, that money has been used to buy a variety of promotional things such Rochelle Bilal trading cards, as well as items like filing cabinets, Tasers, and ammo. 

Two years after the audit and four years after a former top aide to Bilal identified the expenditure as a 'slush fund,' a money reserve used for illicit purposes, City Hall has still permitted the spending to proceed.

Robert Vargas, an associate professor at the University of Chicago who studies law enforcement spending, said that slush accounts, like the one Bilal has been using, 'allow law enforcement leaders to spend on things that would not be approved by local governing bodies.'

Bank records obtained by the Inquirer identified nearly $3.2 million that went into a TD Bank account called 'Operation Cost Payable,' which is controlled by the mayor. 

In fact, reporters monitored the payment of $2 million using checks for over 700 optional items, including the mascot costume. 

With this money, the sheriff's is expected to auction off property, serving warrants, transporting inmates, and providing court security.

The money in the 'slush fund' was meant for Bilal to abide by her duties as deputy, such as auctioning off property, serving warrants, transporting inmates, and providing court security. The sheriff is pictured (left)

Instead, nearly $40,000 went to companies that supply branded merchandise such as backpacks, polo shirts or fidget spinners; $20,000 went toward food and catering costs, including a $6,600 party at Chickie & Pete's; and $8,000 more paid for professional DJs and other entertainment.

The money has also allegedly been used to cover the cost of hiring temporary workers for the Sheriff's Office and, most recently, an administrative assistant who receives biweekly salary but is not officially employed by the city. 

Some checks, like the $32,000 payment for advertising made to TML Communications last year—a company headed by Bilal's former campaign manager, who now works as the office's paid spokesperson—are cosigned by Bilal herself. 

Furthermore, according to a summary the office issued last year, the Sheriff's Office spent over $300,000 from the same account to pay for the expenses of a 'pop-up health care clinic' in April 2022. 

Local financial experts have expressed alarm about the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office's practice of evading the city budget process.

'Generally, the body that spends the money should not be the body that's collecting the money,' assistant professor in the School of Public Policy and Leadership at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Jayce Farmer told the Inquirer. 'You want checks and balances to make sure the moneys go to where they need to go.' 

Right after Bilal took office in 2020, her chief financial officer Brett Mandel, said he was handed a folder that described 'contract obligations to the sheriff's allies and associates.' 

He chose to expose Bilal in a whistle-blower lawsuit in which he was told to use the off-budget funds to pay these costs.

He later learned that Bilal herself had started signing checks from off-budget funds. 

In June 2021, the city paid about $465,000 to settle Mandel's lawsuit, including $77,802 to cover Bilal's legal costs.

The office reports that in the last few years, it has increased the number of community events it hosts annually, ranging from an autism awareness day to frequent food distributions. 

Off-budget funds cover a large portion of the supplies and other expenses related to these events, such as branded goods using Bilal's name or image or the official logo.

During Wednesday's City Council budget hearing, where Bilal asked for an extra $12.6 million, or over 40 percent more than the office's current $32.8 million budget, the council members commended Bilal for her regular attendance at community events.

Bilal faced little backlash with some council members offering praise. 

'I just want to thank you for your hard work and your dedication and working in partnership with members of Council and the city of Philadelphia,' Council President Kenyatta Johnson said.

Bilal asked for an extra $12.6 million, or over 40 percent more than the office's current $32.8 million budget in a city council meeting Wednesday

The investigation attributed the unaccounted funds to the prolonged suspension of the Sheriff's Office's tax-delinquent property sales, which began during the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Because Bilal's office issued an invalid contract that outsources such transactions to an internet auction business, that pause still exists today. This summer is when sales are expected to pick back up.

However, sheriff's bank records showed a $1.5 million bank transfer last November.

The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, which is in charge of Philadelphia's finances and grants approval for the city's five-year budget plan, has long-standing concerns about money 'being held improperly and a lack of internal controls,' according to Marisa Waxman, executive director of the authority.

Andrew McGinley, vice president of external affairs at the Committee of Seventy good-government group, said the city charter is clear on the matter.

'These funds belong to the city of Philadelphia, not an individual office,' McGinley said. 'That's public money.'

DailyMail.com have approached the sheriff's office for comment.