Department of the Interior

The OIG investigated allegations that a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) senior official approved or directed the approval of two drawdowns totaling approximately $3.1 million from an Operation, Maintenance, and Replacement (OMR) Trust Fund designated for a regional rural water system (RWS) at a time...

The OIG investigated approximately $1,600 in fraudulent charges that were made on several Government charge cards issued to a U.S. Geological Survey employee.We found no evidence that the employee made the fraudulent charges and we discovered that a friend of the employee may have been responsible...

We reviewed the process the DOI’s Executive Resources Board (ERB) used to reassign senior executives to determine whether the ERB complied with Federal legal requirements and U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance. Although the Deputy Solicitor expressed his belief that the process met...

The OIG investigated allegations that a National Park Service (NPS) senior manager purchased personal gifts with government funds, reprised against an employee, committed travel fraud, misused Government-owned vehicles, wasted training funds, improperly permitted park guests to lodge in a ranger...

The OIG investigated allegations that a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) contractor submitted a fraudulent claim for an equitable adjustment to a crane repair contract. The contractor allegedly altered cost submission documents submitted by the sub-contractor. We determined that the claim for...

OIG investigated allegations that an oil and gas company improperly claimed royalty suspension under the Deepwater Royalty Relief Act of 1995, and failed to pay mineral royalties associated with an offshore Federal lease.We determined the company was eligible for royalty relief but was required to...

OIG investigated allegations that Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) native language teachers accepted payments from a tribe, which illegally supplemented their Federal salaries.We substantiated the allegations. We identified BIE native language teachers who received two or three supplemental payments...

OIG investigated allegations that a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) employee improperly used a BIA purchase card to purchase speakers, headphones, and electronic tablets.Prior to any significant involvement by our office, we learned that BIA had already investigated the matter and confirmed that two...

OIG investigated allegations that a former Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) contracting employee had a conflict of interest involving a government contractor. We also investigated allegations that the employee had an inappropriate relationship with a second government contractor.Our investigation...

We completed a verification review of Recommendation 9, presented in our evaluation report, “Bureau of Land Management’s Renewable Energy Program: A Critical Point in Renewable Energy Development” (CR-EV-FWS-0004-2010), issued June 12, 2012. Our objective for this review was to determine whether the...