Oversight Committee Releases Deposition Transcript of John Beale
WASHINGTON – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) today released the deposition transcript of John C. Beale. Beale was sentenced December 18th 2013 for defrauding the U.S. Government of nearly $900,000 in his senior role at the Environmental Protection Agency. During his time at the EPA, Beale told his supervisors that he was a secret agent with the Central Intelligence Agency to justify his extended periods of absence, and convinced EPA to pay for his cross country vacations by claiming they were work related.
"This is an egregious example of fraud on the highest levels of management at the EPA," said Chairman Issa. "It's disappointing that a civil servant got away with bilking the American people for so long. The IG has acted to make sure better controls are in place to keep this from happening again and Americans deserve that. "
"For well over a decade, John Beale spun an elaborate web of lies in order to convince EPA supervisors in different administrations, his friends, and even his family that he was a CIA agent," said Ranking Member Cummings. "I commend those who uncovered Beale's sham and put him where he belongs – behind bars. Now we must focus on implementing corrective policies and procedures across the government to safeguard taxpayer funds from this kind of fraud in the future."
Under Committee rules, deposition transcripts can only be released to the public after the majority and minority consent to the release.
On October 1st 2013, John Beale testified before the Oversight Committee where he pled the fifth.