A fired Seabee command master chief is fighting to clear his name after allegations that he of his pocketeding approximately $6,000 in travel reimbursementsclaimsrefund he wasn’t due.
That alleged fraud got him fired from his job, but he claims in a letter to Navy Times are false.
"I feel compelled to respond to the baseless accusations made against me," Command Master Chief (SCW/SW) Moses Sampson wrote in a Friday letter to Navy Times, a day after he was fired from his job as the top enlisted at Navaly Construction Training Center in Gulfport, MississippiMiss. in a signed letter emailed to Navy Times April 22. "Both the investigation and public release of the allegations have been mishandled … I am saddened that this situation was handled in such a manner, without a complete and proper investigation of the relevant facts."
Sampson blames the erroneous claims on an outdated filing system and says the Navy ignored his attempts to repay the government. He also says both his current and former commands failed to interview a key witness during the course of two investigations, which were examining excess claims filed during his three-year tour at Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 11.
Command Master Chief (SCW/SW) Moses Sampson was fired yesterday from his post as the senior enlisted sailor a the Navy Construction Training Center in Gulfport, Miss. by the command's CO, Capt. Heather Walton for what sources told Navy Times were suspected
The Navy, however, is readying its case against Sampson to include charges of larceny, lying and fraud.
Sampson's former commanding officer, Capt. Heather Walton, is prepared to take him to captain's mast; neither the investigations nor the charges against Sampson have been publicly released.
Naval Education and Training Command declined to comment on Sampson's case. his statusn a query about pending discipline of Sampson, But it appears that the Navy and particularly the CO Walton think different and are prepared to take Sampson to Captain’s Mast, though in response to a query about the pending legal action against Sampson, the
"It would be inappropriate to comment on potential disciplinary matters before they're decided," said Joy Samsel, spokeswoman for NETC on Friday April 22.
A source familiar with the case said situation say that Sampson is likely to be taken to mast soon on charges will to to mast soon and will face charges of "larceny, dereliction of duty, making a false official statement and fraud upon the United States government, stemming from 11 suspected intentionally fraudulent travel claims." the source said.
Sampson sent his signed letter from his Today, Sampson fired back in a signed letter attached to an email sent to Navy Times from his personal email account Friday. The attached letter, Sampson said, in his email would be his only rebuttal and that he would not respond to any questions "on advice of counsel." respond to any follow-on questions.
Sampson instead directed any questions to his lawyer, Navy Lt. Matthew Roush, who did not return phone calls but calls were not answered as of press time on Friday.
Command Master Chief Moses Sampon
Photo Credit: U.S. Navy
In the letter, he cites the the allegations as "baseless" and says that investigators from his previous command Naval Mobile Construction Battalion II and his current command failed to talk to a key witness during the course of two separate investigations.
Navy Times responded to his message with some other requests for other information, but Sampson as of press time, had not responded.
Sampson agrees there were irregularities, but points the finger at the the Defense Travel System as the creator of the problems and says the Navy has ignored his attempts to get the problem fixed.
As the command master chief of NMCB 11, Sampson says he deployed with his battalion to Europe between January and August, 2015. Thought the unit was based in Rota, Spain, Sampson said they had detachments at multiple sites around the world and it was his job to in his job, he would travel to those sites to visit his sailors.
"These trips were booked through the Defense Travel System, an antiquated and user-unfriendly system," he wrote. DTS, he went on to say, was particularly bad when it came to making travel arrangements overseas and said the battalion as a whole had "significant issues" during the deployment.
His own problems, he began in September, 2015, a month after returning from deployment.
"I became aware that my government travel card had possibly been overpaid by DTS," he wrote. "I immediately contacted the DTS program manager for NMCB 11."
His intent, he said, was to notify the command there was an issue and pending repayment of funds and seek help in getting it rectified.
Sampson didn’t specifyay how much the repayment was to be, but the source familiar with the situation said it was "approximately $6,000."
"I also requested that he conduct a detailed audit of every one of my travel claims filed during the deployment to ensure that I had only received amounts to which I was entitled," he said.
Sampson said he believes that his contact with the DTS manager that triggered that command investigation, which that was then forwarded to his current command.
When Walton got the investigation, sources say, she ordereddirected her own probe that confirmed much of what NMCB 11 had found.
But Sampson says there’s one problem with both investigations — to date, he says no investigators have interviewed the DTS manager whom Sampson contacted for help., who Sampson claims he came forward to, asking for help.
"I specifically informed my current leadership at [NCTC] of the conversations I had in September 2015 with the NMCB 11 travel program manager. My hope was that they would use this information to correct the outrageous deficiencies in the original investigation."
It’s unclear what Sampson’s next move is, but as a shore duty sailor, he has the option to refuse captain’s mast and request a trial by court-martial. When asked via email of his intentions, he simply referred questions to his lawyer, who has yet to respond to Navy Times.
Sampson says he is "saddened and disappointed" at the whole situation, which he says has been mishandled.
"Rather than work with me to rectify any incorrect payments that may have been made, as I attempted to arrange from the moment I was notified of spending refund … NCTC has instead chosen to paint me as a criminal," he finished his letter saying. "I will nonetheless take solace in the fact that I have done nothing wrong and I look forward to the full story being revealed and proving that fact."
Mark D. Faram is a former reporter for Navy Times. He was a senior writer covering personnel, cultural and historical issues. A nine-year active duty Navy veteran, Faram served from 1978 to 1987 as a Navy Diver and photographer.
