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Rajiv Rao, a former high-ranking official in the state Information Technology Services office, has settled his case with the state ethics commission and state inspector general’s office. He will pay a $5,500 fine and admitted violating Public Officers Law in connection with his dealings with lobbyists who worked for clients that had business\u00a0with the state.\u00a0(Times Union)<\/p>\n
Michael P. Farrell<\/p>\n
ALBANY\u00a0\u2014 A former high-ranking official in the state Office of Information Technology Services has admitted violating Public Officers Law and will pay a $5,500 fine to settle administrative charges that had been pursued by the Commission on Ethics in Lobbying in Government and the state inspector general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
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The settlement was reached with Rajiv Rao, a former chief technology officer who abruptly resigned in 2023 as state officials were reviewing his handling of government contracts with former acting state Budget Director Sandra\u00a0L. Beattie.<\/p>\n
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The allegations stemmed from\u00a0Rao\u2019s participation as a guest and speaker at multiple events that state authorities said were \u201chosted and paid for by a registered lobbyist and attended by clients of the lobbyist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did so without obtaining approval from or informing ITS,\u201d the agencies said in a joint statement Wednesday announcing the settlement. \u201cAt the time of at least one of the events, the lobbyist was actively and directly lobbying ITS for a client. Further, shortly after that event, another client hired the lobbyist to lobby ITS and other state entities on procurements relating to telecommunications and network solutions. Soon thereafter, Rao worked with ITS to authorize a procurement\u00a0from\u00a0that\u00a0client.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigation determined that Rao also did not inform his office of the\u00a0potential conflict of interest \u201cwhen his son became employed by a global professional services firm that had retained the lobbyist and which did business with New York state, including a project in which ITS was heavily involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Rao also was found to have violated his office\u2019s policy by procuring mobile devices for himself and another high-ranking state official without registering the devices on a mobile device security platform as required.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re grateful to the Office of the Inspector General for its collaboration in pursuing this matter and in helping to deliver the increased transparency in government that New Yorkers deserve,\u201d said Sanford N. Berland, executive director of the state ethics commission. \u00a0<\/p>\n Ethics commission chairman Seymour W. James, Jr., said that state officials \u201chave a duty to be aware of and follow New York\u2019s ethics laws.\u201d He added that the investigation with the inspector general\u2019s office\u00a0\u201cuncovered\u00a0facts showing\u00a0that Mr. Rao knowingly shirked that duty,\u00a0making\u00a0this settlement an\u00a0appropriate\u00a0conclusion\u00a0to the allegations against Mr. Rao.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Times Union reported in 2023 that\u00a0Rao, who was then also a deputy chief information officer for technology at the Office of Information Technology Services, resigned that March, several weeks after he had taken a voluntary leave of absence\u00a0\u2014 a day after Beattie was forced from her position.<\/p>\n In response to questions from the newspaper that year about whether\u00a0Gov. Kathy Hochul had any concerns regarding the work of Beattie or Rao, who had a close working relationship and partnered on major projects, a spokeswoman for the governor said at the time they had referred the matter to the state inspector general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n No allegations of misconduct have\u00a0been made against Beattie.<\/p>\n