EPA bosses dragged feet on concerns over fraudster employee’s bonuses, documents show

Judson Berger foxnews.com Top EPA managers were aware as early as 2011 about serious problems with a high-ranking official who would later be sentenced to prison for defrauding the agency, but did not crack down for more than two years, newly released documents show. The documents were released by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who has accused EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy of looking the other way when fraudster John Beale was collecting improper payments. At the time, McCarthy was Beale's boss at the Office of Air and Radiation. Beale was sentenced in December to 32 months in prison for bilking taxpayers of nearly $1 million by pretending to be a CIA agent. About half of that came from $500,000 Beale received in questionable bonuses. How Beale was able to get away with his bogus story, and his hefty payouts, for so long is a question that continues to vex congressional investigators. "Senior officials, including McCarthy, did not take action until the problem grew so large it could no longer be ignored," a Vitter memo claimed. Though McCarthy has been credited with initially flagging Beale's activities and expenses, triggering the internal investigation which unraveled the scheme, documents show that a human resources official flagged concerns over Beale's pay in late 2010 and early 2011. to read more: foxnews.com