The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now saying it cannot confirm a situation involving the Information Services Division of the Alabama Governor’s Finance Office was a routine audit or that it even took place this week.
Earlier in the day, State Auditor Jim Zeigler said his office had received multiple reports that the FBI has seized records and equipment during a raid at the Finance Office’s Information Services Division.
After these reports, FBI spokesman Douglas Astralaga said the incident was related to an “administrative function audit” directed by FBI headquarters and not from the local field office. He said his original information was that there was an administrative audit conducted by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the FBI on an network computer system.
Now, Astralaga said his office is not able to confirm or deny that the audit occurred or the nature of the investigation.
“Our FBI headquarters would engage in those types of audits but I cannot confirm that that type of an audit happened this week,” he said. “We do conduct audits that relate to finance issues or individuals who access searches on FBI systems, we do conduct those on a regular basis. What I can’t verify right now is that that kind of audit occurred recently,” he said.
Astralaga told AL.com clarification would be coming tomorrow.
In a statement to AL.com, Secretary of Law Enforcement Stan Stabler said: “At the request of the governor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a routine administrative audit. No further details will be released at this time.”
Rumors of what was characterized as an FBI “raid” spread throughout the day Thursday, with claims that the office was raided and computers and other records were seized. The reports, according to Zeigler, also claimed Assistant Finance Director Rex McDowell was placed on administrative leave.
It is not known if McDowell has been placed on leave. Secretary of Information Technology Dr. Joanne Hale’s office referred all questions to Gov. Bentley’s office. Messages with the Governor’s Office were not returned and McDowell did not return messages left with his office. Director of Finance Bill Newton referred questions to the governor’s office.
In his comments, Zeigler said McDowell was involved in the purchase of the troubled State of Alabama Accounting and Resource System – or STAARS – financial software that was blamed for delayed payments late last year.
McDowell, assistant finance director in charge of technology, was first hired by the state in 2003. He lives in Texas, commuting to Montgomery three days a week. State payroll records show McDowell was paid $179,672 last year.
According to McDowell’s 2016 State of Economic Interest form filed with the State Ethics Commission, he is also an officer with SoftSwitch Communications, Inc. In his 2011 SOEI form, McDowell said he spent a third of his working time on Dallas-based SoftSwitch with a reported income of more than $10,000. His 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 forms lists him as an officer with SoftSwitch but report no income. McDowell’s LinkedIn account lists his present job as president of SoftSwitch.
AL.com’s Mike Cason, John Archibald and Paul Gattis contributed to this report.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/06/fbi_seizes_computers_in_govern.html