Posted on 11/25/2015 6:51:37 AM PST by pabianice
WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs will not try to recoup more than $400,000 from two senior VA executives who manipulated the hiring system to get their jobs of choice and received hundreds of thousands in extra money to relocate.
The agency has remained silent on questions about its decision to demote and transfer but not fire executives Diana Rubens and Kimberly Graves, and whether it would collect repayment of those relocation benefits. The original statement from the VA announcing the decision said the women had the right to appeal their reassignments.
But Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said the VA’s top lawyer has determined that the agency does not have the legal authority to recoup the money, even after acknowledging that the women had abused their offices.
“I am flabbergasted,†Miller said in a letter to VA Secretary Bob McDonald, released Tuesday. “How can it be that the law prohibits recouping benefits paid to, or on behalf of, employees who only received those benefits because they abused their positions of authority? To put it mildly, VA’s decision defies common sense.â€
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
Change the rules...............Make it punishable by 20 years in prison and a huge fine.....................
But the VA will fight a Veteran to the death over a nickel.
It’s We The People’s money. We should have standing to take these two thieves to court.
Just a protected class (female) attempting to makeup for the well publicized (Democrat) gender pay discrepancies (Hillary!)
No news here - move on.(org)
AND the “lawyers” who say it can’t be recouped. Everyone involved should be fined and fired!
This is another campaign issue for Trump to capitalize on..... “YOU’RE FIRED.... AND WE ARE KEEPING YOUR PENSION AS RESTITUTION.”
Next is with Lois Lerner...
The Rulers rule, the serfs toil.
This is far from the first time that government senior executives (and/or their favorites in their agencies) are reassigned to the area where they plan to retire. The taxpayers, of course, pay for their move to include ALL expenses for selling their current homes and buying new homes. It’s far better than a gold watch.
Yes, and it is yet another scam by federal government employees.
So the acknowledgement that these women abused their offices isn’t enough to get them fired?
Not even a smidgen
This seems to be a case of too many damn specific laws. I don’t know of a jury that wouldn’t convict these guys of fraud.
Over name brand meds too. Not all of us can take generic. Synthroid is a ‘small window’ hormone, very critical to the body. Generic contains up to 30% less hormone, and the doctor does not correct for it if they say a generic can be subbed. 3 days on the stuff and my hair was falling out and ulcers in my mouth. I inspect mine when I get them at the Base as we who are on Tricare LIFE have been DOD MANDATED to use or Express Scripts. I don’t trust ES, they do and will sub a DAW script for the cheaper generic. With Synthroid it’s about $7 stinking dollars for 30 days. Or in my case 90 days it’s a $18 co-pay. Free if gotten at the base.
see the last paragraph?
R”ubens was reassigned to the Houston Regional Benefits Office and Graves was reassigned to Phoenix. Both will now serve as assistant directors, the VA said. The agency said the women are entitled to seek relocations costs for these new assignments that stemmed from their demotions.”
Seriously?
Employees are union and protected by the department of injustice. They get away with murder every day.
Fine. Pick one of the cases of a vet having died as a result of gross negligence, then charge them. Fine them for the tune of about $400K.
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BACKSTORY The 1980 Georgia General Assembly was concerned about the increasing sophistication of various criminal elements on the public payroll (and those in elective and appointive office). The Georgia General Assembly then adopted the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), patterned after a similar federal law.
(RICO is routinely used to try to prove that a legal business was being used for illegal means, and, in at its inception, RICO was used to prosecute drug traffickers or organized crime members).
In recent years prosecutors have applied RICO to crooked government officials: (1) those accused of using their public offices for personal gain, and, (2) tax-paid officials of govt agencies using public monies to flout the law.
To bring a case under Georgias RICO law, there must be at least two underlying felonies such as fraud, bribery, witness tampering (among other felonies).
RICO allows prosecutors to include multiple defendants charged with various crimes in the blanket indictment, and to charge that govt employees, publicy-funded and publicly-sanctioned entities were allegedly part of an ongoing criminal enterprise.
EXAMPLE A govt official commits two felonies by (1) accepting, and, (2) filing falsified documents.
UPDATE Georgia tried convicted and jailed 27 corrupt teachers under this law.....for falsely taking public money, falsifying official school records, and so on.
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HERE'S THE PATHWAY TO LAUNCH---Texas took the lead w/ 26 state AG's, successfully arguing that Obama's beatified DACA/DAPA's were made more desirable employees than US citizens.
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Any public official using tax dollars to flout that law is a lawbreaker: in cases where govt officials on the public payroll not giving public notice is a violation at the federal level of the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act, which requires notice in the Federal Register. Laws demand that taxpayers have the opportunity to submit views in writing.
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NOTE If proof is established that RICOed criminal public officials impaired the commercial and economic activity of the region, that could also be prosecutable under the Hobbs Act.
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PRIME RICO TARGETS John Boehner and his Congressional buddies are complicit in the massive fraud, waste, and criminal use of tax dollars......and the flagrant abuse of taxpayers. They could have reeled in arrogant govt agencies conducting criminal activities (DHS, EPA, IRS, BLM, HUD, DOE and DOL). They could have defunded the criminal enterprise called "Obamacare" and the Planned Parenthood parasites living the high life w/ our tax-dollars....but to taxpayers' eternal disgust....they didn't.
Barack Obama and Loretta Lynch labeling taxpayers terrorists, Bill and Hillary Clinton imperiling taxpayers' ntl security, Lois Lerner and John Koskinen targeting taxpayers, all the criminal members of Congress, and other factotums on the govt payroll should come under RICO.
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Some states now have RICO laws on the books---these laws need to be updated to make sure govt employees are targeted.
best responses at the source:
Greg Heppeard:
As a disabled vet, this sickens me. I’d demote them to nurse’s aide. Make them clean bed pans in a VA hospital for a while.
Jeff Close:
An active duty servicemember would be court martialed and sent to Leavenworth. These women were demoted and get to keep the money. Infuriating.
AmericanDuckie:
“Both will now serve as assistant directors, the VA said. The agency said the women are entitled to seek relocations costs for these new assignments that stemmed from their demotions.”
So, they abused the system to get relocation money at Veterans’ expense, and now because they got caught, they’re entitled to more.
This is a disgrace. Can someone please tell the VA pencil pushers that if it weren’t for Veterans, there would be no need for the VA?!
Asset forfeiture.
Seize their house, and car, and bank account, to start.
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