IEC Journal

US OGE Mailing List Archives

Do you ever wish you could locate old e-mails from OGE's mailing list? There is an easily searchable online archive, including the September 16, 2002 welcome message from then-Director Amy Comstock up to the latest OGE missive.

It's available at:

http://listserv.access.gpo.gov/archives/oge-ethicsinfo-l.html

 

There's an easy procedure to get a password.

Ex-CIA official sentenced for fraud

Former CIA official was sentenced to 37 months for fraud, when he steered procurement contracts to firends.  See full article at http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2009/02/26/pf-8543621.html.

UF Professor accused of NASA Grant Fraud

Federal investigators allege that 59 year old Samim Anghaie, a professor at the University of Florida, and three of his family members fraudulently received millions of dollars from NASA and then laundered money to personal bank accounts, court documents show.  Full story at:

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090226/NEWS01/902260317/1006/news01

For more information on this alleged fraud:

http://www.mahalo.com/Samim_Anghaie

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/25/professor.raid/index.html

NY Family Judge censured for misuse of secretary

The New York Law Journal reports on a judge's censure for assigning her secretary to do personal tasks, including baby sitting, resulting in breach of the public trust and damages public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.  See full article at http://biz.yahoo.com/law/090226/fb652157ebd63ef76e151482ca77d8d0.html?.v=1&printer=1

DoD SOCO Paralegal Vacancy (YA-2)(salary range $49,354 - 113,007)

The Standards of Conduct Office has a vacancy for a paralegal to assist in administration of the Government Ethics program.  This position is covered by the National Security Personnel System (NSPS), and requires a security clearance.  Vacancy Number DLS-09-1925-DE .  See the full annoucement at:  http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=79435106&AVSDM=2009%2D02%2D25+07%3A00%3A49&Logo=0&jbf574=DD25&jbf565=0&FedEmp=Y&sort=sl&FedPub=Y&sorder=d&pg=1&SUBMIT1=Search+for+Jobs

Better Art Work?

An IEC member suggests that artwork of some executive branch agency would be more appropriate than the Supreme Court picture in the upper left hand corner. The current photo is a royalty-free picture we happened to have handy when setting up this site five years ago, and it is certainly no artistic masterpiece. 

If you belive have a better royalty-free picture, by all means forward it to us using the Contact Us link at left. We can crop and resize photos, within limits.

Search Techniques Reminder

Recent correspondence from IEC members experiencing difficulties with web site searches convinces us a reminder of some powerful specialized search techniques is in order. All rely on customized Google searches:

1. If you are searching the OGE web site for information on travel payments, you might enter a search request like this into Google:

1353 site:usoge.gov

The site:usoge.gov part tells it to search only that web site. Incidentally, this trick works on any web site. You can search IEC Journal by using this language: site:iecjournal.org.

2. Alternatively, you can enter your OGE search request at the following specialized web site set up by a helpful IEC member:

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=015302775765566133892%3Ajbqmf7oexls

To make it easier to find this customized search site, we have included a link on the right side of this site, under the name

_Custom Search OGE web site

Reminder: Please complete the IEC 2009 Survey

Please complete the attached survey and returning it to iec.jobs@yahoo.com.  The survey will be available until the March meeting.  We appreciate your participation.

Download 2009 Survey (Word) or Download 2009 Survey (PDF)

(If you completed a survey at the February IEC meeting please disregard this message)

HHS, Lead Ethics Program Administrator (GS-301-14) vacancy

The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has a vacancy for a Lead Ethics Program Administrator, GS-301-14.  The position is located in Woodlawn, MD.  Announcement is open through March 19, 2009.

Job Announcement number HHS-CM-OOM-2009-0025.  See full announcement at http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=79420095&AVSDM=2009%2D02%2D19+00%3A03%3A01&Logo=0&jbf574=HE70&brd=3876&vw=d&ss=0&CustomApplicant=15510,15512,15514,15515,15516,15523,15669,29555,29556,45575&sort=rv&caller=/index.asp

Stimulus Bill Omits Whistleblower Protection

This morning's Federal Diary column discusses the omission of expanded whistleblower protection from the stimulus bill.

March 5th Meeting

Our March 5th meeting will feature Lenny Loewentritt, Deputy General Counsel, GSA, who will give us an update on the various travel regulations of import to ethics officials.  Lenny is always one of our most popular speakers, and his presentations are invariably well received by all in attendance.  You’ll want to make sure your agency is represented at this meeting. 

 

As usual, we will meet from 12:15-1:30 in the OTS auditorium and, as always, individuals who are on the IEC roster need not pre-register for this meeting.  Ethics officials who are not on our roster but who wish to attend can pre-register by contacting Patrick.Carney@fcc.gov not later than Monday, March 2nd.  Those who are neither on the IEC roster nor pre-registered can still be admitted by showing a Government ID to OTS Security personnel.

 

For planning purposes, please note that our April meeting will vary from our usual scheduling practice, taking place on Thursday, April 9th – the second Thursday of the month.  Please mark your calendar accordingly.

Details on Retired Admiral Post-Employment Case

A 2007 press release from the U.S. Attorney for Southern District of California gives more information on the criminal case against a retired admiral who represented a contractor in its dealings with the Navy. This was the subject of some interest at the February monthly meeting.

OGE Quick Reference Chart

Thanks to Wayne Johnson for alterting us to the new U.S. Office of Government Ethics Ethics Official Quick Reference Chart. It's available in PDF and MS Word formats. The chart lists the primary source ethics materials and provides active web links that take you to the source documents.  The chart can also be used as an index or table of contents to what the OGE web site has to offer.

Employee removal for in part misuse of Gov credit card upheld.

Among other charges, this Federal employee was removed for misusing the Government credit card which was provide for her to charge her move to Washington DC.  See non-precedential FedCir case at http://www.fedsmith.com/articles/records/file/Stribling08-3336.pdf 

GSA Final Rule (FMR): Appraisal of Foreign Gifts

General Services Administration amended the Federal Management Regulation (FMR) to revise its policy on appraisals of foreign gifts and  decorations, and to encourage agencies to use various methods in obtaining appraisals, including reliable retail Web sites.  See http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-562.pdf.

IEC Meeting Thursday, Feb. 5 - Presentation

Attached please find the slide presentation from the February 5, 2009, IEC meeting. Download Fraud Brief (02-05-09).

Interesting article on Ethics interaction with Human Resources

The Ethics Resource Center recently published an interesting article entitled Are ethics officers and HR professionals kindred spirits? See full article at http://www.ethics.org/ethics-today/0109/HRMarticle.pdf

IEC 2009 Survey

IEC would like to gauge how well it is responding to the Government Ethics community in terms of providing timely and relevant presentations as well as useful resources.  To accomplish this goal, we would appreciate your help.  Please complete the attached survey and returning it to iec.jobs@yahoo.com.  The survey will be available for approximately a month.  We appreciate your participation.

Download 2009 Survey (Word) or Download 2009 Survey (PDF)

(If you completed a survey at the February IEC meeting please disregard this message)

Army Ethics Officer Deskbook

The Army Ethics Officer Deskbook is often a good source of information for agencies outside DOD. This discussion of ethics waivers was helpful:

9. Waivers

a. Individual Waiver (18 U.S.C. 208(b)(1) and 5 C.F.R. 2640.301). An agency may determine in an individual case that a disqualifying financial interest in a particular matter or matters is not so substantial as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of the employee's services to the Government.

(1) Requirements for issuing 18 U.S.C. 208(b)(1) waivers:

(a) The disqualifying financial interest, and the nature and circumstances of the particular matter or matters, must be fully disclosed to the appointing official.

(b) The waiver must be issued in writing by the Government official responsible for appointing the employee to his position.

(c) The waiver should describe the disqualifying financial interest, the particular matter or matters to which it applies, the employee's role in the matter or matters, and any limitations on the employee's ability to act in such matters.

(d) The waiver shall be based on a determination that the disqualifying financial interest is not so substantial as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of the employee's services to the Government. (Evidence of good character is NOT relevant).

(e) The waiver must be issued prior to the employee taking any action in the matter or matters.

(f) The waiver may apply to both present and future financial interests.

(2) Factors to Consider:

(a) The type of interest that is creating the disqualification (stock, bonds, real estate, other securities, cash payment, job offer, or enhancement of spouse's employment).

(b) The identity of the person whose financial interest is involved and if that interest is not the employee's, the relationship of that person to the employee.

(c) The dollar value of the disqualifying financial interest, if it is known or can be estimated (e.g. the amount of cash payment which may be gained or lost, the salary of the job which will be gained or lost, the predictable change in either the market value of the stock or the actual or potential profit or loss or cost of the matter to the company issuing the stock, the change in the value of real estate or other securities).

(d) The value of the financial instrument or holding from which the disqualifying financial interest arises (e.g. face value of the stock, bond, other security, or real estate) and its value in relationship to the individual's investments.

(e) The nature and importance of the employee's role in the matter, including the extent to which the employee is called upon to exercise discretion in the matter.

(f) Other factors: The sensitivity of the matter; the need for the employee's services in the particular matter; and adjustments that may be made in the employee's duties that would reduce or eliminate the likelihood that the integrity of the employee's services would be questioned by a reasonable person.

(3) When practicable, a Government official is required to consult formally or informally with OGE prior to granting a waiver. A copy of each such waiver is to be forwarded to OGE. A copy of the waiver is publicly available. Note: DoD recommends that you use two memoranda. One is the actual waiver signed by the cognizant official containing the statutory determination language and sufficient supporting facts, which is releasable, and the other is a legal memorandum discussing the facts in more detail for the official, which is not releasable.

(4) In a program review, OGE will review all waivers, so be careful.

Reminder: IEC Meeting Thursday, Feb. 5

This month's featured speaker is Mark Wilkoff the Navy’s Assistant General Counsel (Acquisition Integrity) and Director of the Acquisition Integrity Office, who will present a program on acquisition and procurement fraud. There will also be a 2009 planning session. For details, see Pat Carney's previous post.

Fifth Birthday for the IEC Journal

February 1 is the fifth anniversary of the first IEC Journal posts. Thanks for the opportunity to provide this service to the federal ethics community.