Brown: Ohio Taxpayers Wronged By GSA Bonuses, Misspending

The General Services Administration is accused of violating federal rules and misspending taxpayer dollars, Watchdog10’s Paul Aker reported.

GSA, which has a presence in central Ohio, is accused of giving big bonuses to its employees despite some of those employees being under investigation for violating federal agency rules.

The spending came to light after senators began investigating a trip to Las Vegas that they called “lavish,” Aker reported.

GSA Assistant Director Jeff Neely is accused of holding a conference that cost taxpayers $850,000.

“I am extremely aggrieved by a handful of people to misuse federal tax dollars, twist contracting rules and defile the great name,” said Martha Johnson, former GSA administrator.

Before the investigation finished, it came to light that 84 GSA employees who had been investigated since 2008 got cash bonuses totaling about $1 million, Aker reported.

On GSA employee who was accused of obstructing a federal investigating into GSA activities received a $20,000 bonus, according to Senator Claire McCaskill.

No GSA employees placed in Columbus are accused of wrongdoing.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said that the spending was wasteful.

“I’m as outraged by this as I am about Wall Street bonuses,” Brown said.

Brown said that he planned to work with other senators to make things right.

“Ohio taxpayers have been wronged in this, too,” Brown said.

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