Wife Also Charged
Track Down DEP Mgr. Selling an Agency GPS

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

A former manager in the Department of Environmental Protection was arrested last week for allegedly stealing city property.

Richard Morales, the former Deputy Director of DEP's Fleet Services Division, and his wife Debra were charged with possessing a Global Positioning Navigation System (GPS) worth $2,100. Mr. Morales, a 13-year veteran of the department, resigned in August 2006 after the Department of Investigation began looking into the case.

Tried to Fence It

DOI initiated the investigation after being alerted to possible billing irregularities at DEP's main fleet repair shop. Several items requested or approved by Mr. Morales were missing, including the combination GPS-compact disc player. DOI then learned that Mr. Morales was trying to sell the item and used an undercover investigator to purchase it for $500.

During this time, Mr. Morales had gotten a new job with the City of Richmond, Virginia. He used a City of Richmond shipping account to send the GPS unit to his wife in New Jersey, who sold it to the undercover official.

Misdeed in Virginia

DOI met with Richmond city officials, who discovered that Mr. Morales allegedly received a $750 reimbursement for going to a seminar that he did not attend. He was suspended and then terminated. On July 17, he was arrested in Richmond and charged with felony fraud.

"These individuals may have thought that when they moved out of state, DOI would drop the case," said DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn in a statement. "But these arrests show that DOI will follow an investigation wherever it leads."