Governance: Observations on the Company’s Lost and Found Program

Our objective for this report was to identify the internal control weaknesses that allowed a potential identity theft crime to occur in Chicago and to assess the company’s processes for overseeing and safeguarding items at selected stations. We found that the company has taken steps to strengthen its Lost and Found program to include addressing issues that contributed to an employee theft of 13 state and government customer identification cards and 21 social security cards from the Chicago Union Station Lost and Found program in October 2020. Additionally, we found the company is securing sensitive and high-value items at the stations we reviewed, and, in 2018, automated inventory controls through its use of the third-party software system, Chargerback. We identified opportunities that could further improve the company’s Lost and Found program to include 1) improving program monitoring by station managers, 2) ensuring staff are well trained, 3) resuming monthly lost and found reporting to station management, and 4) provide guidance on how employees should safeguard items found at maintenance yards and on trains and how quickly the items should be transferred to the Lost and Found area. The company agreed with these observations and plans to take corrective actions.