Regulations: 7 CFR 3017.325

Office of Chief Financial Officer, USDA

§ 3017.410

(5) Other reasons the debarring official deems appropriate.

derived from the conduct shall be evidence of such knowledge, approval, or
acquiescence.

[54 FR 4731, Jan. 30, 1989, as amended at 54
FR 4952, Jan. 31, 1989]

§ 3017.325 Scope of debarment.
(a) Scope in general. (1) Debarment of
a person under these regulations constitutes debarment of all its divisions
and other organizational elements
from all covered transactions, unless
the debarment decision is limited by
its terms to one or more specifically
identified individuals, divisions or
other organizational elements or to
specific types of transactions.
(2) The debarment action may include any affiliate of the participant
that is specifically named and given
notice of the proposed debarment and
an
opportunity
to
respond
(see
§§ 3017.311 through 3017.314).
(b) Imputing conduct. For purposes of
determining the scope of debarment,
conduct may be imputed as follows:
(1) Conduct imputed to participant. The
fraudulent, criminal or other seriously
improper conduct of any officer, director, shareholder, partner, employee, or
other individual associated with a participant may be imputed to the participant when the conduct occurred in connection with the individual’s performance of duties for or on behalf of the
participant, or with the participant’s
knowledge, approval, or acquiescence.
The participant’s acceptance of the
benefits derived from the conduct shall
be evidence of such knowledge, approval, or acquiescence.
(2) Conduct imputed to individuals associated with participant. The fraudulent,
criminal, or other seriously improper
conduct of a participant may be imputed to any officer, director, shareholder, partner, employee, or other individual associated with the participant who participated in, knew of, or
had reason to know of the participant’s
conduct.
(3) Conduct of one participant imputed
to other participants in a joint venture.
The fraudulent, criminal, or other seriously improper conduct of one participant in a joint venture, grant pursuant
to a joint application, or similar arrangement or with the knowledge, approval, or acquiescence of these participants. Acceptance of the benefits

Subpart D—Suspension
§ 3017.400

General.

(a) The suspending official may suspend a person from any of the causes in
§ 3017.405 using procedures established
in §§ 3017.410 through 3017.413.
(b) Suspension is a serious action to
be imposed only when:
(1) There exists adequate evidence of
one or more of the causes set out in
§ 3017.405, and
(2) Immediate action is necessary to
protect the public interest.
(c) In assessing the adequacy of the
evidence, the agency should consider
how much information is available,
how credible it is given the circumstances, whether or not important
allegations are corroborated, and what
inferences can reasonably be drawn as
a result. This assessment should include an examination of basic documents such as grants, cooperative
agreements, loan authorizations, and
contracts.
§ 3017.405

Causes for suspension.

(a) Suspension may be imposed in accordance with
the
provisions
of
§§ 3017.400 through 3017.413 upon adequate evidence:
(1) To suspect the commission of an
offense listed in § 3017.305(a); or
(2) That a cause for debarment under
§ 3017.305 may exist.
(b) Indictment shall constitute adequate evidence for purposes of suspension actions.
§ 3017.410

Procedures.

(a) Investigation and referral. Information concerning the existence of a
cause for suspension from any source
shall be promptly reported, investigated, and referred, when appropriate, to the suspending official for
consideration. After consideration, the
suspending official may issue a notice
of suspension.
(1) The decision to utilize agency personnel, OIG or other appropriate resources to conduct the investigation

149

VerDate Dec<13>2002

12:43 Jan 29, 2003

Jkt 200024

PO 00000

Frm 00149

Fmt 8010

Sfmt 8010

Y:\SGML\200024T.XXX

200024T