Misuse and Abuse at VA Central Office

VAOIG, Administrative Investigation Abuse of Authority, Misuse of Position and Resources, Acceptance of Gratuities, & Interference with an OIG Investigation National Programs & Special Events, Report Number 09-01492-83, 2/5/2010

The link is to a PDF file with the VAOIG website which is 45 pages.

Summary
We substantiated that Ms. Diane Hartmann, Director of National Programs & Special Events (NPSE), Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs (OPIA), misused official time and travel; failed to properly record compensatory time for her subordinates; and improperly used hundreds of hours of unauthorized compensatory leave herself. We also substantiated that Ms. Hartmann interfered with an Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation when she destroyed evidence, allowed a subordinate to destroy evidence, made a false theft report, and allowed a subordinate to file an erroneous theft report. Further, we found that after OIG officially notified Ms. Hartmann of the investigation, she attempted to have a subordinate destroy emails, asked a second to withhold material information, and tried to coerce a third by threatening exposure of a personal indiscretion from many years earlier. We further substantiated that Ms. Hartmann accepted, and allowed a subordinate to accept, gratuities valued in excess of $20 from a prohibited source, and that she circumvented acquisition requirements by repetitively splitting a recurring contract for photography services.
In addition, we substantiated that , misused his official time and travel, interfered with an OIG investigation, made false statements to us while under oath, and misused his VA computer systems for improper activities; that , interfered with an OIG investigation and intentionally made false statements to us while under oath; and that destroyed evidence. We also substantiated that Mr. Daniel C. Devine, Special Assistant to the Acting Under Secretary for Health, formerly the Acting Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs, interfered with an OIG investigation when he improperly informed Ms. Hartmann that she was under investigation and when he intentionally made false statements to us while under oath."