The unit is one of 29 such agencies that work with the state to provide services such as special and technical education to local schools.
Baillie did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Joseph J. O'Brien, the unit's director since 2007, said remedial action was taken in 2008 after receipt of a draft report of the probe.
"It's painful, but it's old news," O'Brien said, adding that the auditor general had commended the unit for its quick response.
The report said Baillie retired on Friday, Jan. 5, 2007, but returned to work the following Monday. State law lets retirees on pension return to work "only in an emergency" when no qualified replacement can be found.
In April 2007, the state's school employee pension fund began a probe after receiving an anonymous tip about Baillie's return to work, and ordered him to repay nearly $80,000. Baillie appealed, the report said, but a court ruled that his retirement was phony and orchestrated to boost his pension payout.
Replying to an open-records request, pension fund official Evelyn Tatkovski said Baillie's pension payments had since been reduced to repay the debt.
According to Wagner's report, the unit also spent $12,750 on items such as 20 cases of wine from an out-of-state liquor store, $1,600 for a set of golf clubs for a retiring worker, and $704 for a holiday lunch gathering of 35.
O'Brien said those costs had since been reimbursed and that emergency re-hires, such as Baillie's, had been discontinued.
Contact staff writer Kathleen Brady Shea at 610-696-3021 or kbrady@phillynews.com.
