ISCR Case 12-11933.h1

Case Headnote

ISCR Case No. 12-11933.h1

deniedMay 31, 2016· Hon. Carol G. Ricciardello· hearing

Summary

A 46-year-old retired military member was denied a security clearance due to concerns under Guideline E (Personal Conduct) and Guideline F (Financial Considerations). The denial stemmed from a history of financial delinquencies and deliberate omissions on his security clearance applications (SCAs) from July 2009 and July 2012.

Specifically, the applicant failed to disclose a 2005 security clearance revocation and the withdrawal of his access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). He also omitted numerous financial details, including accounts suspended, charged off, or canceled for non-payment, and debts over 120 or 180 days delinquent. While one student loan was deferred and a credit card debt was paid in 2014, these actions did not sufficiently mitigate the broader pattern of financial irresponsibility.

The judge found the applicant's explanations for these omissions, such as being distracted or unaware of debts attributed to his wife, not credible. This lack of credibility raised significant concerns about his truthfulness and reliability, ultimately leading to the denial of his security clearance.

Why the Applicant Was Denied

Applicant failed to disclose a prior security clearance revocation and financial delinquencies on multiple security clearance applications.
The applicant's explanations for his omissions were deemed not credible, raising doubts about his truthfulness and reliability.
A long history of financial irresponsibility and failure to mitigate debts contributed to the denial.

Conditions Referenced

Disqualifying

E2.aappliedDeliberate Omission, Concealment, or Falsification of Relevant Facts
F3.aappliedInability or Unwillingness to Satisfy Debts
F3.cappliedA History of Not Meeting Financial Obligations

Mitigating

E2.arejectedPrompt, Good-faith Efforts to Correct the Omission
F2.arejectedBehavior Happened so Long Ago, Was Infrequent, or Occurred Under Unique Circumstances
F2.brejectedConditions Beyond the Person's Control Resulted in Financial Problems
F2.dappliedGood-faith Effort to Repay Overdue CreditorsApplicant provided evidence of payments on some debts.
F2.crejectedReceived Counseling for the Problem
F2.erejectedReasonable Basis to Dispute the Legitimacy of the Past-due Debt

Key Rule Quoted

“Any doubt concerning personnel being considered for access to classified information will be resolved in favor of national security.”

Procedural Posture

SOR issuedJul 24, 2015
Answer filedAug 18, 2015
Hearing heldMar 16, 2016
Decision dateMay 31, 2016

Cite For

Deliberate Omission of Financial Issues Under Guideline E
History of Financial Irresponsibility Under Guideline F
Credibility Issues in Security Clearance Applications

Editorial summary generated for research. Not legal advice; not a prediction. Verify against the full decision before relying on any quoted language.

¶	Allegation	Finding	Conduct	Concealed Issue	Response	Disqualifying (¶16)	Mitigating applied (¶17)	Mitigation
1.a	Applicant deliberately failed to disclose, on his July 2012 SCA, that in 2005 his security clearance was revoked and his access to SCI was withdrawn. He also deliberately failed to disclose, that in the past seven years he had accounts suspended, charged off, or canceled for failing to pay them as agreed. He did not disclose that in the past seven years he had debts that were over 120 days delinquent or were currently over 120 days delinquent. Applicant failed to disclose the debts alleged in SOR ¶¶ 2.a, 2.b, and 2.d through 2.t.	Against Applicant	Omission or Failure to DiscloseFOUND DELIBERATE	Financial	Admitted	(a) deliberate omission, concealment, or falsification on a security form	—	—
1.b	Applicant deliberately failed to disclose on the July 2009 SCA that he had accounts that had been suspended, charged off, or canceled for failing to pay as agreed. He also deliberately failed to disclose he had been over 180 days delinquent on any account or that he was currently over 90 days past due on any debts. He deliberately omitted the information in SOR ¶¶ 2.a, 2.e, 2.f, 2.h, 2.j and 2.j through 2.t.	Against Applicant	Omission or Failure to DiscloseFOUND DELIBERATE	Financial	Admitted	(a) deliberate omission, concealment, or falsification on a security form	—	—
1.c	Applicant deliberately failed to disclose requested information in his July 2012 SCA and his July 2009 SCA. I did not find Applicant’s testimony credible that he was distracted and he did not have a credit report while overseas so he wanted to make sure he was specific in his answers. I did not find Applicant’s explanation credible that he was unaware of any of his delinquent debts, and they were all attributed to his wife. His testimony that he was aware of some debts, but not the extent of them raises questions about his truthfulness and reliability.	Against Applicant	Lack of Candor in InterviewFOUND DELIBERATE	Financial	Admitted	(a) deliberate omission, concealment, or falsification on a security form	—	—
1.d	Applicant indicated that he is only responsible for individual debts. Most of the debts alleged are for individual accounts in his name. The above disqualifying condition applies.	Against Applicant	Omission or Failure to DiscloseFOUND DELIBERATE	Financial	Admitted	(a) deliberate omission, concealment, or falsification on a security form	—	—

Allegation

Finding

Conduct

Concealed Issue

Response

Disqualifying (¶16)

Mitigating applied (¶17)

Mitigation

1.a

Applicant deliberately failed to disclose, on his July 2012 SCA, that in 2005 his security clearance was revoked and his access to SCI was withdrawn. He also deliberately failed to disclose, that in the past seven years he had accounts suspended, charged off, or canceled for failing to pay them as agreed. He did not disclose that in the past seven years he had debts that were over 120 days delinquent or were currently over 120 days delinquent. Applicant failed to disclose the debts alleged in SOR ¶¶ 2.a, 2.b, and 2.d through 2.t.

Against Applicant

Omission or Failure to DiscloseFOUND DELIBERATE

Financial

Admitted

(a) deliberate omission, concealment, or falsification on a security form

—

1.b

Applicant deliberately failed to disclose on the July 2009 SCA that he had accounts that had been suspended, charged off, or canceled for failing to pay as agreed. He also deliberately failed to disclose he had been over 180 days delinquent on any account or that he was currently over 90 days past due on any debts. He deliberately omitted the information in SOR ¶¶ 2.a, 2.e, 2.f, 2.h, 2.j and 2.j through 2.t.

Against Applicant

Omission or Failure to DiscloseFOUND DELIBERATE

Financial

Admitted

(a) deliberate omission, concealment, or falsification on a security form

—

1.c

Applicant deliberately failed to disclose requested information in his July 2012 SCA and his July 2009 SCA. I did not find Applicant’s testimony credible that he was distracted and he did not have a credit report while overseas so he wanted to make sure he was specific in his answers. I did not find Applicant’s explanation credible that he was unaware of any of his delinquent debts, and they were all attributed to his wife. His testimony that he was aware of some debts, but not the extent of them raises questions about his truthfulness and reliability.

Against Applicant

Lack of Candor in InterviewFOUND DELIBERATE

Financial

Admitted

(a) deliberate omission, concealment, or falsification on a security form

—

1.d

Applicant indicated that he is only responsible for individual debts. Most of the debts alleged are for individual accounts in his name. The above disqualifying condition applies.

Against Applicant

Omission or Failure to DiscloseFOUND DELIBERATE

Financial

Admitted

(a) deliberate omission, concealment, or falsification on a security form

—

¶	Allegation	Finding	Type	Response	Disqualifying (¶19)	Mitigating applied (¶20)	Mitigation
2.a–2.b	2 sub-charges — specific text not stated in this decision (against the applicant).	Against Applicant			—	—	—
2.c	Applicant provided a document to show the debt in SOR ¶ 2.c is a student loan that was deferred for a period when he was attending school.	For Applicant	Student Loan Debt	Admitted	(a) inability to satisfy debts (c) a history of not meeting financial obligations	(d) good-faith effort to repay or otherwise resolve debts	Documented Debt Paid in Full
2.d	Applicant provided a document to show the credit card debt in SOR ¶ 2.d was paid in 2014.	For Applicant	Credit Card Debt	Admitted	(a) inability to satisfy debts (c) a history of not meeting financial obligations	(d) good-faith effort to repay or otherwise resolve debts	Documented Debt Paid in Full
2.e–2.u	17 sub-charges — specific text not stated in this decision (against the applicant).	Against Applicant			—	—	—

Allegation

Finding

Type

Response

Disqualifying (¶19)

Mitigating applied (¶20)

Mitigation

2.a–2.b

2 sub-charges — specific text not stated in this decision (against the applicant).

Against Applicant

—

2.c

Applicant provided a document to show the debt in SOR ¶ 2.c is a student loan that was deferred for a period when he was attending school.

For Applicant

Student Loan Debt

Admitted

(a) inability to satisfy debts

(c) a history of not meeting financial obligations

(d) good-faith effort to repay or otherwise resolve debts

Documented

Debt Paid in Full

2.d

Applicant provided a document to show the credit card debt in SOR ¶ 2.d was paid in 2014.

For Applicant

Credit Card Debt

Admitted

(a) inability to satisfy debts

(c) a history of not meeting financial obligations

(d) good-faith effort to repay or otherwise resolve debts

Documented

Debt Paid in Full

2.e–2.u

17 sub-charges — specific text not stated in this decision (against the applicant).

Against Applicant

—

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Case Profile

Summary

Why the Applicant Was Denied

Conditions Referenced

Key Rule Quoted

Procedural Posture

Cite For

Full decision

DEFENSE OFFICE OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS

HEARING

APPEARANCES

STATEMENT OF CASE

FINDINGS OF FACT

POLICIES

ANALYSIS

WHOLE PERSON CONCEPT

FORMAL FINDINGS

CONCLUSION

FOOTNOTES