Staffers say FBI agents questioned them about the sheriff’s spending and hiring

Three current Sheriff’s Office staffers told Philadelphia Magazine that FBI agents contacted them in April 2023, each multiple times, about Bilal’s “spending, hiring practices, and managerial actions” — including payments for a holiday party at Chickie’s & Pete’s, the account used to pay for it, her proposal to more than double her own salary, contract bids, and the office’s discontinuation of Teleosoft, the financial-monitoring software it had used since 2015. Former CFO Brett Mandel was separately questioned in March 2020, after his firing.

The FBI, as is standard practice, neither confirmed nor denied the existence of an investigation. Spokesperson Teresa Lundy declined to comment on whether staff had been contacted or why Teleosoft was discontinued. No charges or other public outcome from the questioning had been reported as of August 2026.