TAMPA - Pentagon auditors have quietly enlisted criminal investigators to help determine why the Tampa-based Special Operations Command hid millions of dollars in its budget.
In a widening investigation, the Pentagon's criminal investigative division is interviewing military officers and civilian staffers about the shifting of money from Washington to the Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base without the approval of Congress. The money was allocated to specific projects in the Special Operations budget but could not be spent by the command.
The Defense Criminal Investigative Service has contacted or interviewed at least three people in recent weeks who are familiar with a February 2002 e-mail from the Special Operations comptroller. The e-mail detailed how the command hid $20-million in its 2002-2003 budget at the request of the Pentagon comptroller.
DCIS, the investigative arm of the Pentagon's inspector general, investigates allegations of criminal, civil and administrative violations.
Special Agent Tony Hagemeyer, a DCIS investigator in the agency's regional office in Orlando who is working on the case, declined to comment Wednesday. He referred questions to the Pentagon.
The Pentagon would neither confirm nor deny that DCIS had entered the case.
In a statement, the Pentagon said its inspector general is conducting an investigation into the handling of money at Special Operations.
"The comptroller's office (at the Pentagon), in full cooperation with the IG's office, will not discuss an ongoing investigation," the statement said.
The St. Petersburg Times reported in September that the Special Operations Command inflated budget proposals at the Pentagon's request to "park," or hide, $20-million from Congress in the 2002-03 budget. The Times later reported that in a second case Special Operations parked another $25-million in the 2003-04 budget.
The revelations angered members of Congress. House Appropriations Chairman C.W. Bill Young, R-Largo, said Congress does not condone moving money in that manner and demanded answers.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., and Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the committee, asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to look into the money transfers.
Aides to Young and Levin said the congressmen had not been notified of the latest developments. Warner spokesman John Ullyot declined comment.
Federal law says money appropriated by Congress can be used only for the purpose authorized by Congress. Other federal laws and regulations prohibit submitting fraudulent budget documents to Congress.
In September, the Pentagon said the inspector general was conducting an audit, or preliminary investigation, of the money transfers.
But in recent weeks the audit has evolved into a full-blown investigation.
DCIS investigators initially are asking military officers and civilian staffers questions about how the budget process works at Special Operations.
Shaun Wiggins, an inspector general spokesman, said that in general DCIS takes a case when someone has information about suspected fraud, waste or abuse against the Defense Department that may be criminal.
He said auditors and DCIS investigators play separate roles in an inquiry.
Auditors look at how an agency operates, not at criminal behavior, Wiggins said.
"If they find something that looks odd and is outside their jurisdiction, where they feel that, "Hey! this may be - not saying it is - but it may be criminal,' they refer it over to DCIS, and that's when DCIS would come in," he said.
DCIS also investigates allegations of administrative and civil violations, Wiggins said.
At the Special Operations Command, a spokesman, Sgt. Maj. Keith Butler, said SoCom officials would cooperate with any investigation. Citing privacy regulations, Butler declined to discuss DCIS's involvement in the case.
"If the inspector general at any level starts discussing allegations or complaints, the individuals involved, those accused or their accusers, lose their privacy," Butler said. "Out of concern for the fairness of the process and the overarching requirement to respect privacy, we do not comment on IG matters."
An e-mail by Special Operations comptroller Elaine Kingston on Feb. 11, 2002, detailed an agreement with the office of the Pentagon comptroller to hide $20-million in SoCom's 2002-2003 budget.
Special Operations officials, according to documents obtained by the Times, spread the money among six projects so it would not attract attention. They also instructed their budget analysts not to mention it during briefings with congressional aides, the documents showed.
The plan called for Special Operations to hide the money so it could be used later by the Pentagon for some other purpose. The Pentagon initially wanted Special Operations to hide $40-million. The Special Operations Command, which oversees the nation's secret commando units, refused.
It is unclear what the Pentagon intended to do with the $20-million, or what became of the money.
Young aides said the Pentagon never transferred the money to Special Operations.
