Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) OIG

The objective for this report was to assess the extent to which the company has effectively implemented more economical purchasing practices we recommended in a 2015 report. We found that the company is realizing some of the cost-saving opportunities we identified in our prior report but still has...

A former Amtrak Program Manager based in Washington, D.C., and her sister entered into a Community Service Deferred Sentencing Agreement, in Superior Court, District of Columbia, on October 28, 2019. As part of the agreement, they agreed to each pay $2,128 in restitution to Amtrak, complete 48 hours...

Joshua Pearson, a marketer from St. George, Utah, pleaded guilty on October 22, 2019, in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, to receipt of illegal kickbacks related to a health care fraud scheme. As part the scheme, Pearson received kickbacks from Sheridan Medical for patient...

A Computer Tech based in Bear, Delaware, violated Amtrak policies by conducting consultation work for a travel agency while using company equipment and resources on company time. Although the employee was instructed and counseled by her supervisors to discontinue doing so, we found occasions where...

A Customer Service Representative in Joliet, Illinois, was terminated from employment on March 16, 2020, following an administrative hearing for violating company policy. Our investigation found that the employee inappropriately used leave granted under the Family Medical Leave Act to engage in...

A former Los Angeles-based Amtrak employee was sentenced in Los Angeles Municipal Court on March 13, 2020, to three years of probation, ordered to pay $34,030 in restitution to Amtrak, and to complete 90 days of community service. The former employee pleaded guilty to grand theft after our...

The objective for this report was to assess the effectiveness of the company’s current efforts to better manage its vehicle fleet, including any efforts made by the company to respond to our prior observations. We found that the company has addressed some weaknesses in its management of its vehicle...

An Amtrak senior employee in Los Angeles, California, was terminated from employment on January 21, 2020, and a Los Angeles-based senior employee in Mechanical Operations was issued a written reprimand on the same date following the issuance of our investigative report. Our investigation found that...

Twenty-one Amtrak machinists and supervisors were coached and counseled between October 31, 2019 and February 16, 2020, after our investigation determined the employees received temporary pay increases they were not entitled to. Known as “pay differentials,” these temporary hourly pay increases are...

Adam Micek, a resident of Queens, New York, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, on February 20, 2020, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his involvement in an Amtrak eVoucher scheme. Micek and his co-conspirators used stolen credit card information to make...