WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors have declined to press criminal charges against Kim Graves, the former St. Paul chief of the Veterans Affairs Benefits Office.
Graves faces questions from top VA brass here after an Inspector General in September found she orchestrated a move to Minnesota from the East Coast, keeping her $173,949 salary despite fewer job responsibilities and giving herself a taxpayer-financed $130,000 in moving expenses.
In a statement, federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said they are declining the referral for criminal prosecution from the VA's Office of the Inspector General. Prosecutors say they remanded the case back to the VA for "administrative action that is deemed appropriate."
The VA tried to demote Graves to Phoenix and give her a paycut earlier this month, but VA brass messed up the paperwork and Graves appealed the decision. VA officials say they are going to attempt this move again.
In the meantime, an Arizona congresswoman has beseeched VA officials not to transfer the embattled Graves to her state.
