OFPP administrator, facing criminal charges, resigns

David Safavian, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at the Office of Management and Budget, was arrested today on charges of making false statements and obstructing an investigation by the General Services Administration’s Office of Inspector General when Safavian was GSA’s chief of staff.

The announcement was made late today by Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Safavian was arrested at his home in Alexandria, Va., on a three-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. He is charged with making false statements to a GSA ethics officer and GSA’s IG and obstructing a GSA IG investigation.

Safavian resigned from OFPP Friday, an OMB spokesman said. Robert Burton, OFPP’s associate administrator, is now managing the office.

Safavian served as GSA’s chief of staff from May 16, 2002, to Jan. 10, 2004, during which time he aided a Washington, D.C., lobbyist in the lobbyist's attempts to acquire GSA-controlled property in and around Washington, D.C., according to court documents. In August 2002, the lobbyist allegedly took Safavian and others on a golf trip to Scotland.

Safavian’s false statement and obstruction charges relate to statements he made to a GSA ethics officer and the agency’s IG that the lobbyist had no business with the agency before the August 2002 golf trip.

According to the court affidavit, Safavian concealed the fact that the lobbyist had business with GSA before the golf trip and that Safavian was aiding the lobbyist in attempts to do business with GSA.