by Bill Singer
UN and NLRB Employee Faces 20 Years In Federal Prison For Holding Both Jobs
October 25, 2011
Jeffery K. Armstrong, 51, of South Riding, VA was a Supervisory Security Specialist with the Department of the Army. For whatever reasons, in March 2008, Armstrong took a leave of absence.
UN Job
Well, it's not really all that much of a mystery why Armstrong asked for time off from his Army job - apparently, he was looking for other work and likely interviewing with prospective employers. Seems that Armstrong made a favorable impression because he accepted the job offer of assistant chief of the Security and Safety Service within the Department of Safety and Security at the United Nations, where he was responsible for all physical security of U.N. facilities in New York City, among other functions. The UN pays well, and Armstrong pulled down $160,000 per annum.
NLRB Job
About a year after joining the UN, in February 2009, Armstrong once again had happy feet and applied for another job - this one as chief of the security branch within the Division of the Administration at the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") in Washington, D.C. Sadly, the NLRB didn't pay as well as the UN, and when Armstrong started at his new employer on April 13, 2009, his annual salary had fallen to $121,000.
Now most folks would simply chalk up the diminution in pay to any number of things - maybe the UN had indicated to Armstrong that his job was in jeopardy or maybe he was patriotic and wanted to once again work for the US government. On the other hand, maybe Armstrong had other ideas. Clever ones - or, perhaps, in the end, not so clever.
Two Paychecks
Here's an interesting fact: Between the middle of April and the end of September 2009, Armstrong was employed by both the UN and the NLRB, receiving more than $100,000 in salary from his two employers during that five and one-half month span. Gotta give the guy some credit, though, in the midst of the Great Recession and rising unemployment, he managed to hold down not one but two six-figure jobs. Unfortunately, Armstrong was not just another hard-nosed, hard-working stiff. To the contrary, he was running a con.
Quite the Juggling Act
Anticipating that NLRB might want to confirm his employment status with the UN ( his supposedly, r soon to be, former employer), Armstrong tried to head such inquiries off at the pass. He sent inaccurate/incomplete employment forms to the NLRB and also sent fabricated correspondence confirming that he was no longer employed by the UN.
Of course, that only takes care of one-half of the double-employer equation. How did he manage to fool the UN about his ongoing employment with the NLRB? Seems that Armstrong claimed he was undergoing medical treatment that required the UN to grant him medical leave.
You can only juggle so many balls for so long - on June 30, 2011, took yet another leave of absence, although in criminal law we would more accurately refer to this leave as being arrested by federal authorities and being indicted on nine counts of wire fraud in the Eastern District of Virginia.
On October 21, 2011, was found guilty today by a federal jury on all nine counts of wire fraud. At his sentencing in January 2012, Armstrong faces 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each wire fraud count.