The widening corruption scandal in the District of Columbia’s tax office has cost Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi his once-golden reputation and may still cost him his job.
On Tuesday, it cost him more than $90,000.
The U.S. House passed an appropriations bill Tuesday that left out Gandhi’s raise, which would have made him the local government’s highest paid official.
“The provision was eliminated in the final omnibus [bill] following the emergence of the tax and revenue office scandal,” D.C.’s nonvoting Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a terse statement.
Two ex-employees of the tax office, Harriette Walters and Diane Gustus, are accused of siphoning off tens and millions of public dollars through a series of phony companies and phony tax refunds dating back at least to 1990, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Gandhi took charge of the tax office in 1997 and was promoted to the District’s top accountant in 2000. The public and some public officials want to know how it was that the man who once dubbed himself “The Golden Hammer” missed thousands of bogus payments flowing out of his office’s door.
When the scandal appeared to date back only to 2001, Gandhi hastily demanded resignations from at least 15 employees, including tax office director Sheryl Hobbs Newman. Gandhi said Newman should have been more alert.
Late last month, the growing scandal claimed Sebastian “Ben” Lorigo, one of Gandhi’s most loyal deputies, who announced plans to retire after the new year.
Neither Gandhi nor his spokeswoman, Maryann Young, responded to requests for comment.
Got a tip on the tax scandal? Call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or e-mail [email protected].
