The U.S. Olympic Committee, awash in scandal for a decade, is investigating whether its chief executive officer, Lloyd Ward, abused his position to try to secure a business contract for his brother, the committee's president said Monday.
The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that Ward directed a staff member in April to help obtain a contract for Rubert Ward to provide turbines as auxiliary power for the 2003 Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic.
Rubert Ward was president of Energy Management Technologies of Detroit at the time, the Times reported. The company offered to provide 53 turbines for $4.6 million, but the deal fell through, the newspaper said.
A USOC ethics committee has been investigating whether Lloyd Ward violated committee rules by failing to disclose the potential conflict of interest. The group's executive committee will examine the matter at a meeting in Denver on Jan. 13.
Marty Mankamyer, the USOC president, said in a statement Monday that she found the issue "serious and disturbing." Lloyd Ward was said to be traveling and could not be reached.
Since being hired 14 months ago, Ward, a former chief executive of Maytag, has become a polarizing figure within the USOC.
This latest episode involving Ward follows a rash of unfavorable incidents that have tarnished the USOC in recent years. Seven months ago, Sandra Baldwin, then the USOC president, resigned after it was discovered that she had embellished her academic achievements.