On July 19, 2012, Ms. Deborah Jeffrey was sworn in by the Honorable Stephen H. Glickman, Associate Judge District of Columbia Court of Appeals as the new Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service.
 
Prior to Ms. Jeffrey’s selection as Inspector General, she was a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, where for more than 20 years she has represented clients in civil and criminal investigations and in complex litigation, and has advised lawyers and law firms on matters of professional ethics and risk management.
 
Before joining Zuckerman Spaeder as an associate in 1989, Ms. Jeffrey worked as an associate at Hogan & Hartson from 1986 to 1989.  She began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Harrison L. Winter, former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.   She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
 
Ms. Jeffrey’s impressive career has included designing, conducting, and supervising internal investigations for publicly traded companies, major non-governmental organizations, and law firms.  She has also represented government officials in criminal, civil, inspector general, and congressional investigations, among others.  She currently serves as Vice Chair of the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility, which oversees the disciplinary system for attorneys barred in the District of Columbia, including hearing appeals in cases of attorney discipline.
 

A former Executve Director of the American Samoa Special Services Commission (Commission) was sentenced yesterday to 14 months in prison for her role in stealing over $325,000 in AmeriCorps grant funds, and was ordered to make full resituton of that amount.

Mine S. Pase, 63, of Pago Pago, American Samoa, was sentenced to 14 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton for the District of Columbia. In November of 2011, Pase pleaded guilty to a one-­count criminal informa, on charging her with conspiracy to commit the of federal funds.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG), Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation), has issued an audit report (09-15) on Financial Management Survey Responses of New Grantees that cites lapses in the Corporation’s evaluation of new applicants for grant funds.

The audit, a follow-up to a 1998 OIG report, found that problems still exist with the way the Corporation determines whether new grantee applicants have the financial systems and expertise to properly handle Federal funds.

Corporation officials generally agreed with the audit’s findings and have begun taking steps to strengthen their oversight of new grantees.

Specifically, the OIG found that the Financial Management Survey (FMS) form used by the Corporation contains information self-reported by grantees and lacks any method for verification of responses. The Corporation’s review process was also cited as needing improvement.

An identity thief and undocumented alien who defrauded the VISTA program of more $61,000 has been sentenced to six months in prison and three years’ probation by a U.S. District Court judge in El Paso, TX.

An OIG investigation found that Hilaria Gomez, who is in the United States illegally and therefore ineligible to participate in the VISTA program, used another person’s identity to enroll and serve multiple VISTA terms, during which she received more than $51,000 in living allowances and other benefits. Gomez also used stolen identity documents, including data on two children, to illegally receive more than $10,000 in VISTA childcare benefits.

Gomez, who had previously pled guilty to felony counts of making false statements, theft of public monies and Federal Government program fraud, was sentenced in October 2010.

The case was investigated by OIG Special Agents William Ruley and Jeffrey Morales.

A former AmeriCorps director for the City of Meriden, Conn, has been sentenced to six months in Federal prison and ordered to make more than $150,000 in restitution as the result of an investigation by the Office of Inspector General.

The sentencing of Jonathan Holden, 33, of Hopkinton, MA., was announced Aug. 25, 2009, by Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Holden had earlier pled guilty to one count of theft of public funds. While the director of the Meriden AmeriCorps program from July 2000 to September 2004, Holden embezzled $152,502 from the city.  As part of the embezzlement scheme, Holden caused the city to issue paychecks in the names of others, which he then diverted to himself for his own benefit.

The case was investigated for the OIG by Supervisory Special Agency Robert Holland.