Senate furniture (see photo) stolen and sold illegally, report says

Via: Washington Post

The U.S. Senate is out of town this week, and somebody may want to make sure its furniture is safe and secure.

An employee assigned to care for furniture used by Senate offices stole and illegally sold more than $13,700 worth of tables and chairs to a used furniture dealer in Virginia, according to a new watchdog report and people familiar with the investigation.

The employee worked for the Architect of the Capitol, the office responsible for maintenance, landscaping and renovations at the U.S. Capitol and adjoining congressional buildings. A report released this week by the AOC inspector general provided limited details of the illegal sale.

On three  separate occasions (THREE OCCASIONS!) between October 2010 and August 2011, the report said the employee used an AOC vehicle to transport the stolen furniture and sell it to a used furniture store.

The employee, who RESIGNED his position one day before he was set to be FIRED, sold the furniture to a used furniture store in Virginia, according to two people familiar with the investigation who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. The pieces were not considered valuable  (that’s right, ONLY $13,700) antiques, and were mostly excess office furniture previously used in Senate offices, the sources said.

AOC Inspector General Carol Bates declined to provide further details of the case Wednesday, because the employee’s decision to resign didn’t require AOC to take formal disciplinary action. In her report, Bates said federal prosecutors in Washington declined to press charges in the case because of the AOC’s lax security and furniture inventory system.

AOC spokeswoman Eva Malecki previously declined to comment on the case.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/senate-furniture-stolen-and-sold-illegally-report-says/2012/05/31/gJQAVIkf2U_blog.html

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“$13,700 here, $13,700 there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money”, the late Senator Everett Dirksen (R-IL) didn’t say.

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