US ethics agency rejects Wilbur Ross’ financial disclosure report
WASHINGTON: A US government watchdog has admonished Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, saying he falsely claimed to have sold his shares in a bank and violated an ethics agreement.
The finding disclosed on Tuesday by the Office of Government Ethics was the latest censure for the wealthy member of US President Donald Trump's Cabinet. Mr Ross is a key figure in the trade negotiations with China.
The ethics agency said in a letter that on two occasions in 2017 and last year, Mr 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 last year, Mr Ross went on to certify again that he had sold them, though he did not do so until October, said the letter from agency director Emory Rounds.
Mr Rounds said the agency had therefore refused to certify Mr Ross's inaccurate 2018 financial disclosure report as he was "not in compliance" with his ethics agreement then.
The initial warning in July cited several inaccuracies in the 2017 report and said such false declarations raised the risk of "a serious criminal violation".
Mr Ross has faced repeatedcriticisms over his investments since taking office in 2017 but said that he had sold the BankUnited shares in October after learning that an earlier attempt to sell them had failed.
He said the shares were valued at US$3,700 (S$5,000), "an amount that federal regulations deem de minimis and below the threshold of a possible conflict of interest". - AFP
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