Bequest Pertaining to
1, Inepartment of the Treasury* Bureau of Engraving and Printingubmitted an investigativeon the sale of misprinted stamps in conjunctionOIA requesttamp dealer. BEP requested that the Agency review the file for appropriate exemptions prior^to itshe names and identifying data of two ^employees were deleted from the repor
after
2. InEP conducted an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the printing of inverted postage stamps, specif ically, themericana Candleholder and Rush Lamp stamp. One0 stamps reversed inadvertently prior to printing which caused that portion of the stamp to be printed upside down* The error was not discovered during subsequent processing and examination. ortion of the sheettamps) was soldostal customer ont the McLean Post Office4 Spring Hill Road, McLean* No information was developed during the investigation to indicate intentional wrongdoing on the part of any BEP employee or collusionEP employee and any persons in possession of the inverted stamps release to the Postal Service,
During the course of the BEP investigation,
damaged.
as
dealer, was interviewed* In an article published in Linn's Stamp News.
name stamps.
oyee
5 inverted SI stamps from two individuals SCTing on oehalf of themselves and seven other Individuals. iven one stamp which was severely
mp
4. In May identified as nvestiaators
were stated
so
srvx
provided the name ancl*>mtelephone number sener of the
y BEP
ghas On iJ ffarch
capacity as1 Ipurchased1
of
FOIA Request Pertaining tol
stamps. Onubordinate noticed thatwere printed incorrectly. This createdthe officestamps nay be valuable toa subordinate and also an amateur stamp
collector, concurrea tnat the stamps aight be rare* ^An
Unnandale, Virginia, stamp dealer referredF
frn New Jersey, ^The proceeds of THfTyjsharedseven
mm unidentified CIA employees.emphasized that
thenverted postage stamps, norraally_xalued, were replaced with regular postage stamps.
5- The FOIA request and accompanying investigative report were reviewed by the Office of General Counsel (OGC) and the Office of the Inspector General {OIGJ - OIG deferred the investigation to the Office of Security, and OGC noted that although the act wasajor crime, it was considered conversion of IKS, Government property for personal gain Subsequently, it was determined by thef
was cigkermineo DY tne|
that each <Jx the nirte inaxvxararis wouxo-Be-incerviewed
and WTTUld be toldossible violation of law had occurred, and that the matter may be referred to the Department of Justice, I |
6. The nine employees were identified as
currently assigned to
r
proc requested
denominations or stqflps*
asupplies krrafunds from or the purchase sramfcs were ntly, a
toor the misprint a
FOIA Page
3
to
collector, of special this time.
luaye, and hf^^uggestecknown to|
rsonnei as an amateur staflET
OTt
Tointly referred professional dealer* of thenverted purchase an also decided that be divided equally
recommended an appraisal. By this time,were aware of the discovery. the Yellow Pages directory to locate this pointpossession
raveled
to Annandale, was accompaniedtamp dealer ineJxphonic was
voluntarily dealer. He referred to in misprints. ewailable airlineear him
stamps andf] [personal fun additionaltamps foTffrficial use. the profit from the sale of jhemong ninef* employees.
i tne stamphey were
vno specialized conversation withJ requested to
^
is
ac
^irginia, tO VIS
day
requested that
private vehicl annual leaae ann hours.
The next departed the
flight at of flying, so he omoanyrgay *n^
.eaue
wlsninacon vicinity at
After behalf
iuyec^p
10.
acted on arrival.
telephonicaiiy in They were queried discussion, they
i sei
trie for SOUqht
advised
iw buyer, sell the stampsas eaid to
ei five hour drive, they metuyer he had contacted and thisurchase prx advice fromdvisedrequest rejected and coukrer^offered. ^orecd to gharae the commission fee
the final decision to
or jjie nine hours AM presence
nA0-check in the amountbut after consulting with
the Washington vicinity0 to their co-workers the next day
arrived in the checks
was requested to provide checks Ijj the individualsach. ]
In Aprilread an article in Linn's
Stamp News which reflected that tne inverted stamps were purchasedirginia business firm and soldollector. Tht? article reflected that both the seller and buyer wished to
7
FOIA Request Pertaining tol
were
remain anonymous. At thisthe stamps wascontacted by
the misprint.by BEPe identified.
sured by the buyer for became concerned that the nxiety was heightened faijxt ^nnt-atjiari byan investigation of Jagreed voluntarily to be interviewed that the other seven emaioj^ees not
supervisor in oraer to protectnoted_that subseq completed routine]
tohe matter
=3
staff from disciplinary V* tmo of the individuals^
satisfactorily.
| employee
a
supervise McLean Pos purchase T
ne was mscrucnen oy 7TX3 purchase postage stamps at the Sub-station, He used official funds to
de aenverea tne stamps ana thetamps were used for tohe inversion as aware of| faction if the stamps/ and he was roia by would be included in the proceeds of the ade no decisions in the sale of the stamps, that none of the employees realized that the transaction might have been construed as illegal. The profit was shared equally among nine individuals, and eachheck in the amount.
Its a
a
employee!
because" msaircraftstfi.mfis tothat| reimburseno deci
stamps, although he was
as aware of the value of the wfirar^ther served in Worlde related the discovery of
and
her
y the
the
i|Dq role^
told by
Employeeswith pe face value of theakLpg rolee sale ot
hat nine
S E
POIA Request Pertaining to |
employees would share the proceeds from the sale, of the ensuing events as already described* andheck in the amount.
He was also aware
emproyeeH
lisaT
in late March 86 postage s
f
tated thatheet ^subordinates!
ThiidhoodT B
s wTiich
elieved raignreen an amateur stamp collector since ldhoodT He recognized that the inverted stamps yere special value and he recommended an appraisal.
[ took the
stampsrotessional aeaier in Annancale, who referredan inversion specialist in New Jersey. Telephonicthe New Jersey stamp dealer confirmed their belief ofdiscovery. This stamp dealer,encouraged
t
them to travel to New Jersey as soon as possible, andto cmy for aitLhauffeur andto drive, and the next day he
met witn was: i
profit.
from Washington to New Jersey. They
ng the co-workers to it was clear thatp
rrom
the stamps tern; howev
it
for approximately one hoju before theadvice
was ire was
ell lso
is a
^wanted tosavea asj collector
En of
nirift lndiviau the stamps.
the sale
mployee I
cne sxaraps ror Cook it upon themselves to who wouldrofit from
supply or stamps
rgvided substantially the sameinformation a
^noted that none of the individuals realized :nat wnat tney nad done could be construed as an illegal act, especially since the stamps were replaced with personal funds.mployes contr ibute<La^_equal share to reimburse
hat | Mused to replenish the official Additionally, it was unknown how valuable
FOIA Request Pertaining to Page S
stamps werein New
for
fnet with the stamp rarionalized that no
t
planned uy any members of the tated that the discoveryncen the opportunity for lhad realized that the overnment property for ed the staff on the
a|
i
was present when*
re told^fagt
r, ne assumed tha
loticea tne misprxntea sramp. mployees had been notified by be valuable, and alltol
he
migh
eve
assumed endorsed it* ew eck in the amount of
employee^
equal share of the sale trapsaction; because] presented witn
the pe Beelephonicaiiy returned toew check in the amount of
advised that he was oniscovery and subsequent
loave sale.
le jra
contacted him aterms of the sale. When he later, he ,jras presented with a
.
q
thenly
^ aovisea tnat nearc-timewas presgnt on th^day that the"anrr notedconsidered giving him
11
f
one-halfhare in tneor tne stamps becausepart-time status. He was surprised when he returnedthe next week and was presented wjth an equal snare in the amount.
that the staff became concerned when cm sale of th*Ktamps was sclosedtamphey were assumed by (that the matter was in" "control*
s eJc ret
FOIA Page
t
5LL
f
sale- He
LP April
Furthermore, he recalled6 and that the
irom Ja
ofmisprint discovery and subsequent
him telephonically in Ap
Sequested that he report to the off-ice- He presumed request was related to his pending | |and hewhen he was presentedheck in the amount.
that prope invol no tnere mispru
The nine employee the actty for personal gain, vement in such an acti tentionalterviews that) the primary or^worr intecLjsjamps. sed| repea he transaction because
were shocked by the revelation conversion. Government
They were remorseful of their vity, but all of them stressed that ad occurred. It^as apparent during
HandF^-anasale ot tTTCT ^was visibly shaken and ted^y. _J "lfelt most responsible of| iTITition as supervisor ot
It is recommendedopy each employee1affile, and the
3
r
M piacia TW
Original document.
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