Former USCIS Official Agrees to Pay Civil Penalties in Settlement of Conflict of Interest Allegations

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former U.S. government official agreed to pay $33,000 to resolve allegations that she had an improper conflict of interest with a company while she served as a division chief at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

According to allegations of the United States, Sarah Fahden, of Fort Washington, Maryland, engaged in employment negotiations with eGlobaltech (“eGT”), a company that had a contract with USCIS, while Fahden was employed as the Division Chief of USCIS’s Identity, Records and National Security Division. While negotiating employment with eGT and after agreeing to an employment arrangement with eGT, Fahden is alleged to have participated personally and substantially on a modification to a contract between USCIS and eGT that added additional funding and positions for eGT on the contract. That contract modification allegedly was under Fahden’s official responsibility during her last year at USCIS.

After leaving her position at USCIS in July 2018 and becoming employed as a subcontractor to eGT, Fahden communicated with USCIS officials with the alleged intent of influencing those officials to approve Fahden and her colleague to fill contractor positions that were added through the modification of the USCIS contract.

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 Homeland Security’s Major Frauds & Corruption Unit.

Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Joseph V. Cuffari, Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, made the announcement. The matter was investigated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Krista Anderson.

The civil penalty settled by this agreement are allegations only; there has been no determination of civil liability.

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