United
States alleges CDC chief breached anti-graft law
in job deal with VaxGen
Documents
obtained in 1999 by Brian Deer during his Sunday Times
investigation, The VaxGen Experiment, of California Aids
vaccine company, VaxGen Inc, resulted in federal
prosection of Dr William Heyward, who as HIV
vaccine chief at the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention cheer-led for VaxGen's technology
and arranged $8m in federal grants whilst
secretly engaged to join the company. Below are
the statutes under which Heyward was prosecuted -
section 208 (bribery, graft and conflicts of
interest) - and section 216, penalties. On
February 24 2003, it was announced that a phase
III clinical trial had failed to show efficacy
for AidsVax
TITLE
18> PART I> CHAPTER 11> Sec. 208
Sec.
208. - Acts affecting a personal financial
interest
(a)
Except as permitted by
subsection (b) hereof, whoever, being an officer
or employee of the executive branch of the United
States Government, or of any independent agency
of the United States, a Federal Reserve bank
director, officer, or employee, or an officer or
employee of the District of Columbia, including a
special Government employee, participates
personally and substantially as a Government
officer or employee, through decision, approval,
disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of
advice, investigation, or otherwise, in a
judicial or other proceeding, application,
request for a ruling or other determination,
contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation,
arrest, or other particular matter in which, to
his knowledge, he, his spouse, minor child,
general partner, organization in which he is
serving as officer, director, trustee, general
partner or employee, or any person or
organization with whom he is negotiating or has
any arrangement concerning prospective
employment, has a financial interest -
Shall be
subject to the penalties set forth in section 216
of this title.
(b)
Subsection (a) shall not
apply -
(1) if the
officer or employee first advises the Government
official responsible for appointment to his or
her position of the nature and circumstances of
the judicial or other proceeding, application,
request for a ruling or other determination,
contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation,
arrest, or other particular matter and makes full
disclosure of the financial interest and receives
in advance a written determination made by such
official that the interest is not so substantial
as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of
the services which the Government may expect from
such officer or employee;
(2) if, by
regulation issued by the Director of the Office
of Government Ethics, applicable to all or a
portion of all officers and employees covered by
this section, and published in the Federal
Register, the financial interest has been
exempted from the requirements of subsection (a)
as being too remote or too inconsequential to
affect the integrity of the services of the
Government officers or employees to which such
regulation applies;
(3) in the
case of a special Government employee serving on
an advisory committee within the meaning of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (including an
individual being considered for an appointment to
such a position), the official responsible for
the employee's appointment, after review of the
financial disclosure report filed by the
individual pursuant to the Ethics in Government
Act of 1978, certifies in writing that the need
for the individual's services outweighs the
potential for a conflict of interest created by
the financial interest involved; or
(4) if the
financial interest that would be affected by the
particular matter involved is that resulting
solely from the interest of the officer or
employee, or his or her spouse or minor child, in
birthrights -
(A) in an
Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized
group or community, including any Alaska Native
village corporation as defined in or established
pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act, which is recognized as eligible for the
special programs and services provided by the
United States to Indians because of their status
as Indians,
(B) in an
Indian allotment the title to which is held in
trust by the United States or which is
inalienable by the allottee without the consent
of the United States, or
(C) in an
Indian claims fund held in trust or administered
by the United States, if the particular matter
does not involve the Indian allotment or claims
fund or the Indian tribe, band, nation, organized
group or community, or Alaska Native village
corporation as a specific party or parties.
(c)
(1) For the
purpose of paragraph (1) of subsection (b), in
the case of class A and B directors of Federal
Reserve banks, the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System shall be deemed to be the
Government official responsible for appointment.
(2) The
potential availability of an exemption under any
particular paragraph of subsection (b) does not
preclude an exemption being granted pursuant to
another paragraph of subsection (b).
(d)
(1) Upon
request, a copy of any determination granting an
exemption under subsection (b)(1) or (b)(3) shall
be made available to the public by the agency
granting the exemption pursuant to the procedures
set forth in section 105 of the Ethics in
Government Act of 1978. In making such
determination available, the agency may withhold
from disclosure any information contained in the
determination that would be exempt from
disclosure under section 552 of title 5. For
purposes of determinations under subsection
(b)(3), the information describing each financial
interest shall be no more extensive than that
required of the individual in his or her
financial disclosure report under the Ethics in
Government Act of 1978.
(2) The
Office of Government Ethics, after consultation
with the Attorney General, shall issue uniform
regulations for the issuance of waivers and
exemptions under subsection (b) which shall -
(A) list
and describe exemptions; and
(B) provide
guidance with respect to the types of interests
that are not so substantial as to be deemed
likely to affect the integrity of the services
the Government may expect from the employee.
TITLE
18 > PART I > CHAPTER 11 > Sec. 216
Sec.
216. - Penalties and injunctions
(a)
The punishment for an offense under section 203,
204, 205, 207, 208, or 209 of this title is the
following:
(1) Whoever
engages in the conduct constituting the offense
shall be imprisoned for not more than one year or
fined in the amount set forth in this title, or
both.
(2) Whoever
willfully engages in the conduct constituting the
offense shall be imprisoned for not more than
five years or fined in the amount set forth in
this title, or both.
(b)
The Attorney General may bring a civil action in
the appropriate United States district court
against any person who engages in conduct
constituting an offense under section 203, 204,
205, 207, 208, or 209 of this title and, upon
proof of such conduct by a preponderance of the
evidence, such person shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not more than $50,000 for each
violation or the amount of compensation which the
person received or offered for the prohibited
conduct, whichever amount is greater. The
imposition of a civil penalty under this
subsection does not preclude any other criminal
or civil statutory, common law, or administrative
remedy, which is available by law to the United
States or any other person.
(c)
If the Attorney General has reason to believe
that a person is engaging in conduct constituting
an offense under section 203, 204, 205, 207, 208,
or 209 of this title, the Attorney General may
petition an appropriate United States district
court for an order prohibiting that person from
engaging in such conduct. The court may issue an
order prohibiting that person from engaging in
such conduct if the court finds that the conduct
constitutes such an offense. The filing of a
petition under this section does not preclude any
other remedy which is available by law to the
United States or any other person.
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