Federal Reports

We investigated allegations that Lawrence Killsback, while serving as President of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe (NCT), submitted fraudulent travel claims. The funds used to pay the fraudulent claims came from federally funded NCT programs. Our investigation focused on Killsback’s regional travel in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a parallel investigation that focused on Killsback’s remaining domestic trips.Together, the parallel investigations found that Killsback stole over $20,000 from NCT programs by submitting multiple fraudulent travel vouchers between August 18, 2014, and August 25, 2017.This investigation was prosecuted jointly with the HHS OIG investigation. Killsback pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana to one count of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 and one count of false claims conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 286. On December 12, 2019, Killsback was sentenced to 6 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. Killsback was also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and $25,092 in restitution.

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 requires that each class of mail or type of mail service covers their direct and indirect costs. Over the past 10 years, several U.S. Postal Service market dominant products continuously failed to cover their attributable costs. Currently there are six market dominant products that are not covering their direct and indirect costs (underwater products). In fiscal year (FY) 2019, total loss from these underwater products was about $1.6 billion. Further, some market dominant mail products have had notable declines in cost coverage over the last 10 years. Unlike competitive products, market dominant product price increases are restricted to the Consumer Price Index, with a price cap applied to each mail class. Our objective was to evaluate opportunities to reduce mail product costs. This audit was initiated to review cost reduction initiatives specific to underwater products; however, the issues we identified impacted more than just underwater products.

Nurse staffing is a key contributor to the quality of care provided in nursing homes. This review, initiated before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, focuses on staffing data from 2018. However, the 2020 pandemic reinforces the importance of adequate staffing for nursing homes, as inadequate staffing can make it more difficult for nursing homes to respond to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19.

This is an audit of NEA's Information System contracts. Due to security concerns, this information is not published on the internet. You can obtain a copy of the memorandum through a freedom of information act request at the following link: https://www.arts.gov/freedom-information-act-guide.