Federal Reports

Memorandum to the Chairman of the Board regarding OIG's fiscal year 2023 risk assessment for the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012.

Letter to Office of Management and Budget regarding OIG's fiscal year 2023 risk assessment for the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012.

During a review related to VA’s Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) pilot program, the OIG discovered VA is paying concurrent monthly housing allowance benefits to veterans who are simultaneously enrolled in Post 9/11 GI Bill and VET TEC educational programs. There is no statutory authority prohibiting concurrent payment to a veteran for Post-9/11 GI Bill and VET TEC educational benefits. However, the legislation that established VET TEC created an inconsistency compared to other VA educational benefits programs that prohibit concurrent payments of educational benefits. Congress introduced bills to continue VET TEC as a VA educational program in 2023. This memorandum is meant to convey the information necessary for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and Congress to determine if additional actions are warranted to address this inconsistency before the continuation of the program. The OIG team selected a sample of 30 unique veterans who simultaneously attended Post 9/11 GI Bill and VET TEC courses and found that all received concurrent monthly housing allowance payments. Those veterans received a total of about $164,500 in concurrent payments. Based on this sample, the team estimated about 208 veterans received concurrent payments from April 1, 2019, to February 28, 2023, for a total of $1.1 million. With the VET TEC pilot program ending in April 2024 and legislation pending to continue it as a VA educational program, VBA and Congress have an opportunity to consider whether new iterations of the VET TEC program should continue to allow veterans to receive concurrent monthly housing allowance payments while simultaneously attending Post 9/11 GI Bill and VET TEC programs.

Ever since Congress created the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA), SIGTARP has delivered for American taxpayers by performing both law enforcement and oversight functions. As a law enforcement office, SIGTARP has a proven record of identifying and investigating fraud and other crime. SIGTARP investigations have resulted in the recovery of over $11.4 billion, criminal prosecutions by the Department of Justice and others of 476 defendants—328 of them sentenced to prison, including 75 bankers. Our investigations have also resulted in enforcement actions against 25 corporations/entities, including enforcement actions against many of the largest U.S. financial institutions. As an independent watchdog, SIGTARP’s audits and evaluations consistently identified fraud, waste, abuse, ineffectiveness, inefficiency, and risk in EESA programs, and brought transparency to EESA. The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) ended on April 28, 2023. According to April 2023 data, HAMP is still providing much needed foreclosure relief to more than 550,000 participating homeowners in all 50 states. The Department of the Treasury paid $124.7 million in fiscal year 2023, including a $1.8 million true-up payment made before the program closed. SIGTARP's investigations into the HAMP program have protected consumers seeking access to HAMP and who subsequently became the victims of scams. To date, SIGTARP has brought to justice 121 convicted scammers.

Williams, Adley & Company – DC, LLP (Williams Adley), under contract with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, issued an Independent Accountant’s Report on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Detailed Accounting Report. CBP’s management prepared the Table of FY 2023 Drug Control Obligations and related assertions to comply with the requirements of the ONDCP Circular, National Drug Control Program Agency Compliance Reviews, dated September 9, 2021.

We have completed a review of DOI’s progress in implementing our past audit recommendations addressing Government charge card internal controls.