TWINSBURG, OHIO - The Ohio Inspector General is examining a representative at the Twinsburg office of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) blamed for working a real estate business while he was working for and receiving paychecks from the state.
Edwin Perez, an environmental specialist at the office's Northeast District Office (NEDO), is associated with making more than 700 telephone calls in six months inconsequential to his job at the OEPA, as per a discharge from Ohio Inspector General Randall J. Meyer's office. Perez additionally went by real estate websites more than 3,500 times amid work hours.
Perez conceded that he possessed 13 land properties and frequently purchased undeveloped houses, enlisted contracts to make repairs and after that leased the homes to tenants, as indicated by the reviewer general's examination report.
He spent over eight hours on his OEPA work area telephone and around 25 hours on his own telephone to make real estate related calls, authorities said. OEPA precludes its employees from utilizing state-possessed telephones and PCs for private use.
NEDO Assistant District Chief Jennifer Kurko told specialists that Perez's obligations at the OEPA included assessing air permits and reviewing facilities that are issued permits for compliance, records appear. There was no business related reason that Perez ought to have been reaching water heating companies, stone and marble offices, paint stores and other home development firms.
A few OEPA workers met by the Inspector General said they saw or heard Perez facilitating business related to real estate.
Kurko said she heard rumors about Perez facilitating real estate business amid work hours, investing a significant measure of energy in his own cellphone and creating low work output.
The OEPA led an interior investigation after authorities heard of the allegations, OEPA representative Heidi Griesmer said. The office alluded the case to the investigator general subsequent to finding "potential improper or illegal conduct" with respect to Perez.
