VA Inspector General: Benefits execs misused positions

The director of the Philadelphia VA Regional Office, Diana Rubens, "personally and substantially" participated in creating that job opening before volunteering to take the job, the VA Inspector General said Monday.

Another senior Veterans Benefits Administration official now based in Minnesota, Kimberly Graves, did likewise at the St. Paul VA Regional Office, the IG said in announcing the results of a six-month investigation that began with an inquiry into Rubens' relocation expenses that was prompted by an anonymous complaint. The investigation was launched at the request of the request of the top two leaders of the congressional veterans affairs committee.

The two women "inappropriately used" their positions of authority "for personal and financial benefit," the IG said.

Both moves involved substantial amounts of relocation expenses. VA paid $274,019 for Rubens' June 1, 2014, move from Washington, D.C., where she served as deputy under secretary for field operations, to become the Philadelphia director. Some of the expenses were also excessive or prohibited, the IG said.

The Philadelphia office governs and has processed veterans' disability and pension claims for the Wilmington benefits office.

The IG has made criminal referrals on both workers, both members of the Senior Executive Service or SES, to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Columbia. "Formal decisions regarding prosecutorial merit are pending," the IG said. One recommendation is whether Rubens should be forced to pay back the $274,019, and Graves to pay back the $129,468 paid for her expenses to relocate from the Eastern Area Office in Philadelphia to St. Paul in October 2014.

Most of those expenses were approved by Allison Hickey, VA's under secretary for benefits, the IG said.

Members of the Senior Executive Service, or SES, serve in positions just below those served by presidential appointees.

Rubens and Graves weren't the only workers targeted in the IG's investigation. The IG reviewed records of 23 other VBA employees who were either promoted to or moved to different SES positions in fiscal years 2013 through 2015. Twenty-one of the 23 reassignments included salary increases.

Yet, from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2013, U.S. Office of Personnel Management guidelines "precluded all SES employees from receiving annual pay increases." And in fiscal year 2012, the VA secretary ruled that no VBA executives would receive performance awards "based on concerns over the backlog of veterans’ disability claims."

Said the IG, "We determined that VBA management used moves of senior executives as a method to justify annual salary increases and used VA’s [Permanent Change of Station] Relocation program to pay moving expenses for these employees."

In addition, the IG identified salary increases "that did not consistently reflect changes in the positions’ scope of responsibility." When VBA filled vacant SES positions, the IG said, "the selectees often received significant annual salary increases over what their predecessors were paid." One regional office director received a salary increase of $30,417, or 22 percent more than his predecessor.

For Rubens, the Philadelphia job also came with a "significant decrease in job responsibilities" from her previous position as deputy under secretary for field operations. Yet she retained her previous salary of $181,497, the IG said. As VA had claimed when that story broke in late winter, her salary could not be reduced, based on federal regulations that govern the pay of federal employees in the Senior Executive Service.

In response, the VA chief of staff, Robert Nabors, said that he had read the report and agreed with its recommendations, listed at the link above.

VA's harshest critic in Congress said the investigation's findings weren't unexpected.

“I am not surprised that the IG has confirmed our biggest fears about VBA's relocation expenses program," said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida, in a statement. "The IG’s report proves that VA’s corrosive culture extends to the highest levels of VBA leadership and must be immediately rooted out once and for all. This report is simply the latest in a long line of investigations showing VA officials helping themselves instead of helping America’s veterans.

“Ms. Rubens and Ms. Graves were placed in positions of authority and given the trust of the American people to properly serve the men and women who have served our Nation," Miller said. "They have violated that trust and must be held accountable for their actions. I expect the U.S. Attorney’s Office will consider the criminal referral and if warranted, I would expect all parties to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Additionally, I am examining whether VA officials misled the Committee at the hearing on April 22, 2015, regarding Ms. Rubens’ relocation."

The promotions, moves and payments weren't simply a matter of policy misinterpretation, Miller said.

“It is clear from this report that Under Secretary Hickey and others in VA leadership knew they could use fear, intimidation, and timely relocation incentives to coerce subordinates to relocate to jobs they didn’t apply for at the taxpayers’ expense," Miller said. "These VA managers knew what they were doing and it is clear that from day one that VA officials were using the relocation expenses program to enrich themselves. The actions of the individuals uncovered by this report are a discredit to VA employees and veterans."

Miller was harshly critical of Hickey, as well, saying he is "especially disappointed" in Hickey and other senior VA managers "for approving these moves. ... I encourage Secretary [Robert] McDonald to utilize every tool available to him to ensure that these VA managers and leaders are immediately held accountable for their actions."

The IG's investigation took it to Philadelphia; St. Paul; Baltimore; New York; Houston; Seattle; Salt Lake City; St. Louis; Chicago; St. Petersburg, Florida; Montgomery, Alabama; San Diego; Cleveland; Milwaukee; Jackson, Mississippi; Hartford, Connecticut; and Columbia, South Carolina.

Contact William H. McMichael at (302) 324-2812 or bmcmichael@delawareonline.com. On Twitter: @billmcmichael