An extensive over spending at General Services Administration on a Las Vegas conference regarding the possibility of stolen Apple Inc. iPods by employees was confirmed by lawmakers today. GSA Inspector General Brian Miller’s report regarding the Las Vegas conference drew attention to the GSA abuses.
He informed a House subcommittee that his office subpoenaed Apple and discovered 115 iPods, meant for and employee rewards program, had disappeared. One was traced back to the daughter of a GSA official who recently had been placed on administrative leave. Jeff Neely, regional GSA commissioner who had overseen the $823,000 Las Vegas incident currently under investigation by Congress, failed to appear to the second day of hearings regarding the event.
Jeff had been placed on leave following the inspector general’s report. He refused to testify yesterday at an appearance held before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform , he cited his Fifth Amendment rights in regards to his right to avoid self-incrimination. He was invited to testify again today.
The hearing held today was ran by a subcommittee of Mica’s committee and manifested amid growing criticism of GSA lawmakers from both parties. Representative John Mica, a Republican from Florida who heads the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee stated at the hearing:
“I guess the only way we’ll get to see him is on a video in the hot tub.”
The New York Post today published a photo (top) that it said was of Jeff Neely in a hot tub in Las Vegas.
Source: BusinessWeek.com
