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Fired IVH commandant claims he offered to return overpayments

T-R FILE PHOTO - Former IVH commandant Timon Oujiri’s attorney Alison Kanne sent a letter to Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand on Friday claiming Oujiri had offered to return excess pay on multiple occasions with the offer still standing.

The lawyer representing the former Iowa Veterans Home commandant fired this year is claiming a “misstatement” was made in the state auditor’s report released Thursday.

Timon Oujiri was fired by Gov. Kim Reynolds last May and she had not answered any questions or provided a reason why. A special report from the state auditor’s office released Thursday detailing a special investigation of IVH alleges Oujiri collected a total of $105,412.85 in excess wages and benefits between June 2019 and April 2021 following a change in the state payroll system.

Oujiri’s attorney, Alison Kanne, claims Oujiri attempted to repay the excess wages earlier this year in a letter sent to the Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand on Friday.

“Both the press release and the report your office issued seem to imply that the State has made efforts to collect the overpayment made to Mr. Oujiri, to no avail,” Kanne said. “We dispute this implication.”

The letter states Oujiri first offered to repay the entire amount to the Department of Administrative Services on April 27 and again during his meeting with employees from the governor’s office on May 4. Oujiri was fired May 5, and the letter states through his attorneys he has made further attempts to repay the full amount.

“This offer still stands,” Kanne said. “The repayment can be made as soon as you indicate it will be accepted, as we have repeatedly said to various officials.”

Also mentioned in the letter and not in the state auditor’s report are two occasions where Oujiri thanked state officials for an increase in pay. Oujiri sent a handwritten note to Gov. Reynolds dated Aug. 2, 2019 thanking her for a pay raise and an email to governor’s Chief of Staff Sara Craig on the same day stating, “I truly appreciate the confidence in my pay raise.”

The state auditor’s report indicates Oujiri received an authorized pay raise of 2.1 percent effective July 2019. However, a change in the state payroll system in June 2019 defaulted certain employees to 80 hours per pay period instead of their original 112 hours per pay period while making no change in their wages.

IVH payroll employees claimed they were unaware of an email notifying them of the change and did not notify Oujiri who had not received the email, continuing to input Oujiri’s hours as 112 per pay period resulting in a pay increase of 42.9 percent exceeding the maximum allowable salary for the position.

“The Auditor’s Office was aware of the issues raised by Mr. Oujiri’s attorney and the Auditor’s Office stands by its report,” spokesperson for Sand, Sonya Heitshusen said.

Oujiri was appointed as commandant by former Gov. Terry Branstad in 2017 and confirmed by the Iowa Senate in 2018. Since his firing, Division Administrator Penny Cutler-Bermudez served as acting commandant. On July 28, Reynolds named Major Matthew Peterson as the new IVH commandant.

Contact Trevor Babcock at 641-753-6611 or tbabcock@timesrepublican.com.

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