Department of the Interior

The OIG investigated allegations that an Office of Aviation Services (OAS) employee conducted private pilot examinations while on U.S. Government time, leased his personal aircraft to the Government, and improperly obtained clients because of his wife’s position at another Federal agency.We...

We investigated an allegation that Jamie K. Reaser, Executive Director, National Invasive Species Council (NISC) Secretariat, may have violated Federal ethics and conflict of interest regulations by directing the award of a sole-source contract to an individual with whom she resided and may have had...

The OIG investigated allegations that two former employees of a tribally controlled school funded by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) did not repay payroll advances.We found that one employee failed to repay the school for more than $77,000 in payroll advances and the other failed to repay the...

The OIG investigated allegations that a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) manager had used his position for the private gain of a friend, overruled decisions made by an employee’s supervisor regarding the employee’s leave and telework requests, and improperly influenced the award of a contract because...

The OIG investigated allegations that an Interior Business Center (IBC) official reprised against a subordinate employee by suspending the employee’s security clearance after the employee filed an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint against the official.We determined that the employee made...

The OIG investigated allegations that senior management within the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Gulf of Mexico Region reprised against an employee for disclosures she made to BOEM officials. The employee also filed similar complaints under Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) provisions...

The OIG investigated an allegation that a National Park Service (NPS) contractor in the U.S. Virgin Islands attempted to provide a cash bribe to an NPS employee. We also investigated allegations that a park supervisor influenced Government personnel to hire a family member as a contractor, that...

The OIG investigated an allegation that Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Administratively Determined (AD) firefighters intentionally set wildland fires for profit on the Cherokee Reservation in Cherokee, NC.We found that firefighters Raymond Swayney, Grady Davis, Zachary Winchester, and three others...

We investigated whether the boundaries of Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) were modified, at least in part, for the personal financial benefit of former Utah State Representative Michael Noel, who owned property along the GSENM border and who is currently the executive...

We completed an inspection of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) small miner (those with 10 or fewer claims) mining claims. We focused on whether the BLM monitors these claims to ensure that they are legitimate, that maintenance fees are paid, and, if these fees are waived, that the required...