IG: VA Officials Misused Funds

Two senior Department of Veterans Affairs officials could face prosecution for misusing the agency’s permanent-change-of-station (PCS) program for their personal financial gain. In a Sept. 28 report, the VA inspector general’s office determined that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) wrongly allowed the two officials to manipulate the system so that they each could receive significant reimbursement for related expenses. Diana Rubens, director of the VA Regional Office in Philadelphia, received more than $288,000 in expenses when she transferred to that job from a prior position at VBA headquarters. Also, Rubens retained her Senior Executive Service (SES) salary even though the new position was two levels lower on the agency’s scale. Once in Philadelphia, Rubens created a new position there and then volunteered to fill the vacancy. Other allegations unveiled by the IG involve improper reimbursements for beverages, meals and gratuities during the move. The probe also uncovered similar improper payments when Kimberly Graves was reassigned from VBA’s Eastern Area Office to a new position as director of the VA Regional Office in St. Paul, Minn. Graves reportedly received more than $129,000 in expenses related to her PCS move to St. Paul. Like Rubens, the IG also determined that Graves created a director vacancy at her new location and then volunteered to fill the vacancy. “We determined that VBA management used moves of senior executives as a method to justify annual salary increases and used VA’s PCS program to pay moving expenses for these employees,” the IG reported. “The … salary increases … did not consistently reflect the changes in the positions’ scope of responsibility.”