Falsification of Employment Records by the Deputy Director of the Office of Acquisition and Property Management

We investigated allegations that Deputy Director of the Office of Acquisition and Property Management, James McCaffery, Senior Executive Service (SES), falsified military and Federal employment records to improve his chances of gaining Federal employment.

 

During our investigation, McCaffery admitted that he falsified his military and Federal employment records, to include an unearned Purple Heart medal that he used to claim a 10-point veteran’s hiring preference, and that he provided false statements to U.S. Office of Personnel Management investigators conducting his personnel background investigation. As a result, McCaffery could not obtain the favorable public trust determination required of the PAM deputy director position.

 

We determined that McCaffery’s supervisor, PAM Director Debra Sonderman, SES, knew about McCaffery’s dishonesty while he was still in a probationary SES status and took no action to resolve his inability to obtain a favorable public trust determination. She chose neither to remove nor discipline him, nor to consult with her supervisor, despite the recommendation for removal from both the human resources and security offices. 

 

McCaffery retired from Federal service on November 30, 2016.

 

We provided a copy of our report to the Office of Policy, Management and Budget for action.