Top GSA official facing potential Justice investigation

Washington (CNN) -- A top official at the scandal-plagued General Services Administration is now facing the prospect of a federal criminal investigation, CNN confirmed Friday.

GSA Inspector General Brian Miller has referred details of a case involving former Public Buildings Service executive Jeff Neely to the Justice Department, according to a congressional source with knowledge of the investigation. Neely is allegedly tied to contracting improprieties and, among other things, supposedly took several electronic items from GSA storage -- including an iPod, Sony e-Reader and GPS tracking system -- and used them for personal benefit, The Washington Post reported.

The Justice Department refused to comment when contacted by CNN.

Neely was recently placed on administrative leave for his role in organizing a lavish, widely condemned 2010 GSA conference in Las Vegas. The roughly $820,000 conference has prompted bipartisan outrage, embarrassed the administration and put a spotlight on wasteful spending at the GSA, which acts as a real estate agency for the federal government.

A recently released inspector general's report detailing the excesses of the 2010 conference resulted in the resignation of GSA chief Martha Johnson and the dismissal of several other high-ranking agency officials. Congressional investigators have also accused the GSA of violating its employee gift limit with inappropriate rewards of iPods, and other electronics.

House Republicans released new information Thursday highlighting other examples of excess GSA spending, including $330,000 to relocate an employee from Denver to Hawaii.

Multiple congressional hearings examining the GSA are scheduled for next week.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-California, said in a written statement Thursday that the "GSA's culture of lavish spending clearly goes well beyond a single convention."

It is "troubling to see the agency tasked with setting the standard for accountability and cost-cutting across the government evidently engaging in such abusive spending," he said.

CNN's Carol Cratty contributed to this report.