Federal Reports

An Amtrak mechanical foreman based in Miami, Florida, signed a civil settlement agreement on September 10, 2024, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida. The employee agreed to pay $6,000 in restitution and a penalty of $2,325 related to the fraudulent application for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance. Our investigation found that the employee applied for an EIDL Advance for an alleged transportation business. We interviewed the employee and he admitted that his loan application was fraudulent, and the information contained in the application was not accurate. As a result, the employee received an EIDL Advance in the amount of $6,000 to which he was not entitled.

The federal government spends billions of dollars annually on pharmaceutical items through VA’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program. The OIG examines and reports on pharmaceutical proposals submitted to the VA National Acquisition Center for FSS contracts that have an anticipated annual value expected to exceed $5 million. The oversight reports help VA contracting officers negotiate fair and reasonable prices for the government but are not published due to sensitive commercial information that is protected from release under federal law.To promote transparency, this review summarizes the 17 nonpublic oversight reports the OIG completed in fiscal year 2023 regarding pharmaceutical FSS proposals. The 17 proposals had a cumulative 10-year estimated contract value of approximately $19.5 billion. Contract negotiations for 16 of the 17 pharmaceutical proposals had been completed as of the date of this report. Collectively, the OIG recommended $120.6 million in contract savings over the life of the contracts.In reviewing each pharmaceutical proposal, the OIG provided an opinion as to whether the proposal and commercial disclosures were accurate, complete, and current; made recommendations for pricing based on the vendor’s commercial selling practices; and evaluated and suggested alternative tracking customers, which are customers that serve as a benchmark for potential price reductions during the life of the contract. If tracking customers receive a price reduction, the government’s price should also be reduced.The OIG’s findings and recommendations in preaward reports issued in FY 2023 helped VA contracting officers reduce the cost of pharmaceutical items. Contracting officers obtained and saved taxpayers approximately $351,669 over the 10-year life of the awarded contracts.

System Review Report

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) reviewed the system of quality control for the audit organization of the GAO OIG in effect for the year ended March 31, 2024. This report discusses their findings.