Ethics review of Lower Bucks authority director ends in $5,000 settlement
A state ethics investigation into whether a Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority official ran afoul of the law ended with a settlement requiring a company owned by Managing Director Vijay Rajput’s wife to pay the authority $5,000.
The investigative arm of the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission released a final adjudication online this week that included allegations that Rajput ran afoul of state ethics laws after using an LBCJMA storage shed in Tullytown to teach wastewater treatment courses through his wife's company, S2A Technologies, Inc., for free since 2005.
Under the Pennsylvania Public Official and Employee Ethics Act public officials and employees must avoid a conflict of interest where they or their families could financially benefit from agency business and can violate the law if the financial gain is over $500.
While it is unclear exactly how much Rajput’s wife’s company has been paid since 2005, the ethics investigation revealed a series of at least nine courses taught between 2016 and 2020 totaling about $29,430 made to the firm. A little less than half of that came from the Morrisville Municipal Authority and the Township of Falls Authority who had some of their employees enroll in S2A’s courses.
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The affidavit adds that LBCJMA would cover the cost of the classes for their employees after completion but does not mention what, if any, reimbursement was offered by the other authorities.
The final ruling states out front that the consent agreement is not an admission of guilt, stating that Rajput “fully and unequivocally” denies violating the ethics act but conceding that the investigators could win in an official hearing based solely on its circumstantial evidence.
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Rajput defended his use of the shed in the adjudication, saying it was one of multiple locations S2A held classes and that the authority has allowed other vendors to use the space free of charge “over the years” for employee training.
The wastewater treatment courses taught by Rajput through S2A were a requirement for employees holding certain operator licenses through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
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It doesn’t appear that there was ever an official vote by the LBCJMA Board of Directors approving Rajput’s use of the shed or contracting exclusively with S2A, but Rajput said officials were well aware he was using the shed outside of business hours.
In 2002, when Rajput was teaching similar courses on behalf of the DEP, a former LBCJMA managing director allegedly requested Rajput teach courses using the shed, the documents state.
Rajput also noted that the authority’s solicitor twice opined that Rajput teaching the courses did not create a conflict of interest, first in a letter to an authority employee in 2013 and again during a public board meeting in 2021.
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The current LBCJMA board also “has not expressed any desire” to charge a fee for the use of a storage shed for classes, the document states.
Rajput is prohibited from asking for any reimbursement of the $5,000 from the authority, per the commission’s order.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Ethics review of Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority director ends in settlement
