BLM Supervisor Violated Federal Law and Ethics Regulations for Outside Employment

The OIG investigated an allegation that a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) law enforcement supervisor was involved in an outside business venture in violation of Federal ethics regulations and U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) policies. We also investigated whether the law enforcement supervisor and a subordinate special agent participated in the business activity while on duty and whether the law enforcement supervisor showed preferential treatment toward the special agent. We found the law enforcement supervisor participated in outside activity and employment with three entities, one of which was a prohibited source under Federal regulations and did not seek prior approval from his supervisor and an ethics official as required. The law enforcement supervisor also received financial reimbursements and payments for training services he provided for two of the entities, which violated Federal law, and did not report any of that income on his financial disclosure forms as required by Federal ethics regulations.Finally, the law enforcement supervisor claimed official work hours from the BLM on days when he had been providing training to these entities in his personal capacity.We found no evidence that the subordinate special agent participated in outside activity that violated Federal regulations or DOI policy, or that the law enforcement supervisor showed preferential treatment toward the special agent. The law enforcement supervisor left the Department during our investigation. We referred this matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which declined prosecution.