Top Trump official's ethics disclosures 'inaccurate': US watchdog

Date created : 20/02/2019 - 03:44  GMT/ZULU

A government watchdog says US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross falsely claimed to have sold stock in a bank and violated a government ethics agreement AFP/File

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Washington 

by Suzanne Gould and Biodun Iginla, France24

A US government watchdog has admonished Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, saying he falsely claimed to have sold stock in a bank and violated a government ethics agreement.

The finding disclosed Tuesday by the Office of Government Ethics was the latest ethics censure for the wealthy member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet who is a key figure in the high-stakes trade negotiations with China.

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The ethics agency said in a letter that on two occasions in 2017 and 2018 Ross had falsely claimed to have sold his shares in the Florida lender BankUnited, where he had previously served as a board member.

After a first warning in June of last year, Ross went on to certify again that he had sold them, even though he did not do so until October 2018, according the letter from agency Director Emory Rounds.

Rounds said the agency had therefore refused to certify Ross's inaccurate 2018 financial disclosure report as he was "not in compliance" with his ethics agreement at the time he submitted it.

The agency's initial warning in July cited several inaccuracies in the 2017 report and said such false declarations raised the risk of "a serious criminal violation."

Ross has faced repeated negative scrutiny over his investments since taking office in 2017 but said in a statement that he had sold the BankUnited shares in October after learning after learning that an earlier attempt to sell the shares had been unsuccessful.

Ross said the shares in question were valued at $3,700, "an amount that federal regulations deem de minimis and below the threshold of a possible conflict of interest."

"Therefore, even if a BankUnited matter had come before the department while I owned the shares -- and I have not been made aware of any such matter -- I would not have been disqualified from working on it," he said.

Ross said he was "disappointed" that his report was not certified.

"I remain committed to complying with my ethics agreement and adhering to the guidance of Commerce ethics officials," he added.