Posted on 04/25/2015 7:25:31 PM PDT by markomalley
The Defense Information Systems Agency's former comptroller has accused the agency of demoting him after he reported accounting practices he believed were potentially illegal.
"I went from comptroller to currently I'm sitting in an eight-by-ten office … and I've been told by [DISA Director Lt. Gen. Ronnie Hawkins] I'm not to communicate, for any business reasons, with the agency while I'm under this so-called detail," Jimaye Sones, who was DISA comptroller from 2005 to 2013, told FCW in an exclusive interview.
Sones has alleged that, starting in the fall of 2012, he began warning DISA's leadership that the agency risked violating the Anti-Deficiency Act, which bars federal employees from spending unappropriated funds. When Sones reported the issue to the Defense Department CIO's office, he alleged, Hawkins told him to "sit on your hands" as he was reassigned to lower positions within DISA. "He was not candid at all in his conversations with me as to why he was doing it, and I asked several times," Sones said of Hawkins.
A statement from Sones' legal team said that the DOD inspector general is investigating the alleged financial improprieties, and that the U.S. Office of Special Counsel was investigating the claims of retaliation. DISA spokeswoman Cindy Your declined to comment for this story, citing a policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations.
Congress has taken note of Sones' fate. Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) sent a letter April 22 to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter asking the Pentagon chief to investigate Sones' allegations. According to the letter, the DISA inspector general conducted an audit of an agency billing process related to the negative cash balance Sones says he discovered. The audit concluded that the billing process had violated DOD Financial Management Regulations and should be discontinued, the letter said.
Sones said he told a member of Grassley's staff of the audit's findings, and within days was reassigned to a Pentagon working group on accounting software.
"I went ... from top financial person in the agency to one that had no financial responsibility," he said. "I went from reporting outside the department to only reporting inside the department."
In a statement, Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Valerie Henderson said "The department has received the letter from Senators Grassley and Warner, and will respond promptly and directly to them. We appreciate their concerns regarding this issue."
In a separate statement to FCW, Grassley said he wanted the issue addressed and resolved. "When I met with then-nominee and now Secretary Carter in February, he talked about the need to cut wasteful spending," the statement said. "Following up on that commitment, I'd like a full explanation as to why a very senior executive supposedly has been banished to an 8-by-10 cubbyhole where he has no real title, no budget, no staff, and nothing to do while drawing a big paycheck."
Hawkins plans to step down as DISA director by the end of the year. Sones said he hopes Hawkins' departure will help bring a resolution to the former comptroller's case, if it is not already resolved by then.
"I was at probably the top of my game when this happened and I hope to gain my credibility and my career back," Sones said, adding that he wants to be fully reinstated as comptroller.
The most common violation of this is when contractors offer to provide "freebies"...generally in an effort to win paid work.
How is that different from ‘vote for me and get a free obamaphone’?
Deficit spending? Try that year, after year, after year at a publicly held corporation; jail and/or a lunatic asylum.
Q.E. ... a lunatic asylum.
No, that's not it. The Anti-Deficiency Act is to prevent obligating the government to pay for something that there are no funds for. For example, let's say DISA has $10 million for a project, but they award a contract obligating the government to pay $20 million. That is an Anti-Deficiency Act violation. It's rarely pursued because agencies have underhand ways of shuffling money around.
The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal employees from
Federal employees who violate the Antideficiency Act are subject to two types of sanctions: administrative and penal. Employees may be subject to appropriate administrative discipline including, when circumstances warrant, suspension from duty without pay or removal from office. In addition, employees may also be subject to fines, imprisonment, or both.
The highlighted bullet above ("freebies") is the most common violation I have seen...
For many years DISA was under fire for not being able to provide a complete accounting of how it spent money. Jimaye Sones became what is essentially the CFO of DISA. He implemented best accounting practices within the agency and completed the first clean audit for the agency. He was the posted adult for honesty and integrity in the agency.
Then Hawkins became the director of the agency. Sones kept track of the dollars in and the dollars out and investigated potential wrongdoing when he found it. Hawkins decided to shoot the messenger rather than the people who had created the problem.
Perhaps Senators Grassley and Warner need to call Hawkins and Mr. Sones to testify under oath and then turn the testimony over to the U.S. Attorney for the Federal District. My prediction is that Hawkins’ blue suit will be traded in for an orange one.
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