Former HUD Official Agrees to Settle Conflict of Interest Allegations

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former government official agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve allegations that he had an improper conflict of interest with a company while he served as the Director of the Quality Assurance Division in the Office of Lender Activities and Program Compliance within the Federal Housing Administration at the United States Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The United States alleges that Justin Burch, of Arlington, had ongoing employment discussions with a private company with which he had personal and substantial participation as the Director of the Quality Assurance Division for FHA. While Burch did not ultimately join this company, he allegedly never sought to recuse himself from decisions relating to the potential employer, despite his ongoing employment discussions with them. As part of the civil settlement, Burch has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $25,000 to resolve allegations that his conduct violated conflict of interest prohibitions for federal workers.

The resolutions obtained in this matter were the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The matter was investigated by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Roushdy and Gerard Mene. The civil penalty settled by this agreement are allegations only; there has been no determination of civil liability.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.