Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) OIG

Nestor Rojas, a resident of Miami, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud on April 21, 2022. Our investigation found that Rojas conspired with others to unlawfully bill for approximately $1.4 billion of...

Dominique Henley, a former Amtrak baggageman based in Chicago, pleaded guilty to identity theft and was sentenced in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, on April 20, 2022, to 24 months’ probation. Our investigation found that Henley was in possession of 21 Social Security cards and 13 state...

An Amtrak operation supervisor based in Miami resigned from the company on May 31, 2022, after he failed to respond to company letters advising him to report as available for duty. Prior to his resignation, we conducted an investigation and found that he violated company policies by engaging in self...

An Amtrak conductor based in Sanford, Florida, was suspended from his position without pay, in lieu of termination, on July 15, 2022, following his administrative hearing. The employee was held out of service without pay for a total of 68 days from May 26, 2022, through August 1, 2022. Our...

Earl Kendricks, Jr., a resident of Roseville, Michigan, was sentenced on August 3, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $49,332 in restitution, of which $870 is payable to Amtrak. On April 19, 2022, he pleaded guilty to wire...

Alain Galette, a resident of Miami, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, to one count of wire fraud on August 4, 2022, in relation to his application for a Payroll Program Protection (PPP) loan and in obtaining an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) in the amount of...

Robert Joseph, a podiatrist based in Los Angeles, California, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, on July 25, 2022, to two years’ probation for conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Joseph was also ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 and a money judgment forfeiture...

We initiated this work as a survey of Amtrak’s practices for developing and managing construction contracts. During our review, however, we identified other relevant challenges, which we are raising to inform key stakeholders as the company plans to receive its first tranche of funding from the...

A former Amtrak train attendant based in New Orleans, Louisiana, was sentenced in the Eastern District of Louisiana on July 25, 2022, to three years’ probation and 12 months’ home confinement for theft of government funds and making false statements. In addition, he was ordered to pay restitution of...

A Trackman/Watchman based at Sunnyside Yard, New York, resigned on June 22, 2022, prior to his disciplinary hearing for time and attendance violations. Our investigation found that, between February 2020 and June 2021, the former employee improperly claimed and accepted payment for hours he did not...