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Declaration of Kimmett CA No. 4:CV-08-1496 - Pennsylvania Corbett Case Fraud Waste Wrongdoing
Declaration of Kimmett CA No. 4:CV-08-1496 - Pennsylvania Corbett Case Fraud Waste Wrongdoing
THOMAS D. KIMMETT
v. (Judge Jones)
Defendants.
2. FES is responsible for collecting all the debts from all the various
given time, there were approximately 40,000 cases with debts totaling $400-500
million and millions of dollars being paid to private collection agencies (“PCAs”)
at rates as high 30% (40% previously), which were five to six times the rate paid
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3. The Collections unit handles a web of fund flows, which includes (a)
money collected by PCAs from debtors that the PCAs remit to FES; (c)
collects to the state agencies where the debt originated; and (e) payments from the
state agencies to FES to reimburse FES for commissions FES paid to the PCAs for
the PCAs’ collection of the agencies’ debt. Millions of dollars pass through FES
every year.
waste, wrongdoing, and gross mismanagement that had been occurring in FES and
unit, the Office of the Auditor General, or by some other law enforcement agency.
I expressed this opinion to many other people, within OAG and elsewhere.
Brandwene, FES Chief Michael Roman, and Division Director Louis Rovelli. I
also reported this to the Comptroller, Edward Bianco, and the Assistant
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discovered many other problems in FES beyond what Mr. Furlong had described.
I kept Mr. Furlong regularly informed of the waste and wrongdoing I was
discovering within FES, even though many of those examples did not relate
to Richard Hudic, the Executive Director of Team PA, who had direct contact to
Brian Nutt and Tom Corbett. Mr. Hudic and I worked on projects together during
about the problems I had discovered in FES and DOR. In December 2006, I met
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with Mr. Hudic for approximately ninety minutes at his office to detail the
problems at FES. During that meeting, I went through specific examples with him.
Hudic about the problems I was discovering and about the resistance I was
problems, I was subjected to retaliation by others in FES, including but not limited
11. After I first began reporting on the waste, gross mismanagement, and
wrongdoing in FES in late 2006, Stephen Brandwene, then the Chief of FES (my
12. Jill Keiser, whom I was supposed to have replaced as the Supervisor
of the Collections unit, refused to interact with me, take supervision from me, or
assist me with day-to-day work in the Collections unit. Ms. Keiser would even
refuse to submit leave for vacation time she would take, and would not inform me
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Ms. Keiser continued to act as though she was in charge of the section. This was
problematic because Keiser would meet with representatives of PCAs, with which
the work in the Collections unit that I was attempting to supervise and manage.
14. When Steve Brandwene retired from FES, I was denied a promotion
Chief Louis Rovelli met with me to discuss his decision not to promote me to
Chief. Rovelli said he had no complaint with the quality of my work; however, he
explained that I did not understand OAG’s culture. Rovelli made clear that this
was because I had reported the mismanagement, wrongdoing, and potential fraud
in FES. Rovelli specifically cited an example of illegal activity that had been
discovered to have been occurring by investigators in the Philadelphia area and the
fact that no one within the office would report on it. Rovelli stated that even
though the Office knew they had engaged in illegal activity they were still
employed in the Office. Rovelli then discussed my concerns that Jill Keiser had
been involved in wrongdoing, and possibly fraud. He said that I needed to ignore
the wrongdoing and would be required to work with Keiser moving forward. What
15. At that meeting, Rovelli also explained that he had held his position as
the Director of the Civil Law Division in OAG during the terms of every elected
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Attorney General, and that he was close, personal friends with the current AG,
Thomas Corbett, as well as with former AGs Leroy Zimmerman and Michael
Fisher. It was clear to me that I was intended to take from these statements that
Mr. Rovelli was a very powerful figure within OAG and not one to be crossed.
16. From the point when Michael Roman assumed the position of Chief
engage Mr. Roman and to keep him informed of the problems I discovered within
mismanagement.
17. At one point, I had been requested by the Comptroller Bianco to sign
Transportation audit of FES. I met with Mr. Bianco and his assistant Mr.
Ottenberg on numerous occasions to explain my position that I could not sign such
a representation. Both Ottenberg and Bianci were well aware that I believed that
gross mismanagement and fraud had occurred in FES, and they shared many of my
beliefs. I also sent a memorandum to Mr. Bianco and Mr. Roman detailing my
concerns and outlining the improprieties that had occurred in FES before, during,
and after the audit period at issue. When I raised my concerns to Mr. Roman, he
got very upset with me and said that I had to “get past” the fraud issue. I outlined
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my discussions with Mr. Ottenberg, Mr. Roman, and Mr. Bianco on this issue in a
memo to file on June 20, 2007. Ultimately, I signed the representation letter as
requested because, after my discussion with Mr. Roman, I understood that I could
18. Both Mr. Brandwene and Mr. Roman made it clear to others in FES,
including many of my subordinates, that he did not like me. Roman would
employees.
19. Mr. Roman would hold meetings with one of my subordinates, Mark
20. When employees left the Collections unit, I was not provided the
unit staff by attrition, despite the fact that I had identified a significant amount of
work that needed to be done to get current on cases that had been ignored during
21. I was informed by Mr. Furlong, Mr. Ottenberg, and Mr. Bianco on
numerous occasions that I would be fired for finding, reporting, and attempting to
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Specifically, I learned from DOR employees that DOR was failing to collect from
debtors’ “Act 40” fees, despite a legal obligation to do so. This failure was costing
discussed this concern with others both within and outside of government when
discovered.
23. I discovered that DOR was entering into “What-If” settlements with
taxpayers whose appeal rights had long since expired and that DOR was
attempting to keep that fact quiet. I believed that DOR’s “What-If” settlements
created a dangerous precedent and that DOR’s instruction to keep their existence
Mr. Roman. I also discussed this concern with others both within and outside of
debts owed to DOR. My team and I found that many of the proposed compromises
unjustified. In many cases, compromises that would have paid the PCAs
thousands of dollars in fees never even existed in the PCA’s records. Because my
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team and I would not approve such compromises until (and if) the required
others both within and outside of government when communicating about the
25. When Mr. Furlong learned that I had heard about various problems at
cease communicating with me. I learned of this instruction directly from those
DOR employees. Mr. Furlong also informed the DOR employees that, to the
extent I expressed valid concerns about particular cases or issues, he could get me
overruled by going to Mr. Roman. Mr. Furlong also told me to have no further
Bellaman, also recognized and reported to me that Mr. Furlong would “play with
the accounts” by lowering the dollar amount that had previously been established
27. In the spring of 2008, I again discussed with Mr. Hudic examples of
waste, gross mismanagement, and wrongdoing that I had discovered, including the
various new issues that had arisen since our last communication. I also informed
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him of the stiff resistance I was encountering from my direct chain of command
28. Mr. Hudic said he intended to speak with Mr. Nutt or Mr. Corbett
about my concerns. My hope was that Mr. Nutt or Mr. Corbett, upon learning of
29. In May 2008 I spoke again with Mr. Kane about the gross
DOR. At that point, Mr. Kane arranged for me to talk to Bruce Brandler, an
Assistant United States Attorney. Mr. Kane informed Mr. Brandler that I would be
30. I called Mr. Brandler and spoke with him for approximately thirty
minutes. During that time, I described the activities in FES and DOR that I felt
31. After talking with Mr. Brandler, I decided to meet with an attorney. I
was concerned that Mr. Rovelli and Mr. Roman would terminate my employment
if they learned that I was communicating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the
FBI. My attorney had subsequent communications with the U.S. Attorney’s office.
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32. I have met with an FBI agent to discuss the wrongdoing and fraud that
I discovered in FES and DOR. My most recent meeting with the FBI occurred at
the FBI’s request in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area on May 19, 2010.
Subsequent to that, the FBI agent requested a meeting with my attorney, and my
understanding is that that meeting took place in Washington, D.C. on July 6, 2010.
33. After filing suit, most everyone I encountered at OAG would not talk
to me. Mr. Rovelli would have no direct conversations with me until the day
wrongdoing. I was informed that Ms. Keiser handed Ms. Bellaman a copy of my
lawsuit, asked Ms. Bellaman what she thought of the suit, and then told Ms.
Bellaman to “watch herself.” In that conversation, Ms. Keiser also made a number
35. Given the large amount of money handled by and through FES, this
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