The former head of the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA), who now works for Google, has been accused of violating ethics rules during her tenure at the Defense agency.

In a report written last year but only recently released by DOD, the agency's Inspector General said Regina Dugan used her position within DARPA to push RedXDefense, a company she founded and lead prior to joining DARPA.

Specifically, Dugan spoke in favor of RedX Defense's The Bookends theory, which suggests that identifying the people and facilities behind bombs is the best way to combat the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). RedX-based ideas allegedly fueled many of Dugan's DOD presentations, in what the agency said was an attempt to gain endorsements for her company.

The Defense Department was tipped off in 2011 by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), which alleged that RedX received $1.75 million in contracts following Dugan's appointment to DARPA. The non-profit watchdog group also said she kept a financial stake in the company after her departure, Navy Times reported.

Dugan left her post at the Pentagon in March 2012 to join Googleeight months before the DOD contacted her regarding its investigation, which wrapped up almost two years ago.

The IG's office only recently released its heavily redacted report to Navy Times sister site Military Times, following a public information request filed in December.

"We determined that Dr. Dugan violated the JER [Joint Ethics Regulation] prohibition against endorsements," the report said, citing situations in which the former director hawked materials and promoted products made by RedX.

Dugan refuted the DOD's claims in a 2012 response, saying that she never made an explicit endorsement and her actions did not violate ethics rules. But the IG's office said that "after carefully considering Dr. Dugan's response, we stand by our original conclusion."

However, since Dugan no longer works for the government, "we make no recommendation," the IG said.

"This matter was closed over a year ago," Google said in a statement on behalf of its employee. "At no time did Dr. Dugan use her position as the Director of DARPA to make any endorsementexplicit or implied."

At Google, Dugan oversees the Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group, which handles the Project Ara modular smartphone team, among other things.

Editor's Note: This story was updated Friday with comment from Google.

Further Reading

Mobile Phone Reviews