Federal Reports

We verified the BLM implemented 6 of the 11 recommendations we made in a 2018 evaluation report.

We found that as of November 30, 2022, FSA obligated nearly 100 percent of the $161.1 million in appropriations it received for pandemic assistance student aid administration funds. Nine FSA business units obligated approximately $157.8 million (98 percent) of the total pandemic assistance student aid administration funds, with one business unit, the Next Gen FSA Program Office, accounting for 78 percent of the obligations. The pandemic assistance student aid administration funds were used for personnel compensation and benefits, information technology systems and services contracts, and contractual services contracts. As of November 30, 2022, FSA had approximately $3.2 million remaining in unobligated ARP funds. As of April 4, 2023, specific plans for how those funds will be used were still under development. On June 3, 2023, as a result of the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, unobligated balances of ARP student aid administration funds were permanently rescinded. FSA stated that prior to the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act it had plans in place to use the remaining ARP funds to support the end of the pandemic-related pause in repayments.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted a special review of the travel and purchase card programs as planned in the OIG Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Work Plan. The objective of the special review was to determine if the FEC’s travel, and purchase card programs comply with federal laws and regulations.

The audit of 15 AmeriCorps Seniors grantees found that their financial management systems did not comply with Federal regulations and grant terms and conditions. As a result of these deficiencies, we identified $268,627 in questioned Federal costs and $377,199 in non-compliant match costs reported on AmeriCorps grants. AmeriCorps waived match requirements for AmeriCorps Seniors grants during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was within our audit scope, so we could not question the $377,199 in unsupported match costs. We made recommendations for AmeriCorps to ensure that grantees strengthen their financial management systems and appropriately monitor costs reported on AmeriCorps grants. AmeriCorps agreed with our findings and recommendations and plans to evaluate the questioned costs through its audit resolution process.

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the care provided at the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System. The system includes three medical centers located in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens and two outpatient clinics in New York. This evaluation focused on five key operational areas:• Leadership and organizational risks• Quality, safety, and value• Medical staff privileging• Environment of care• Mental health (focusing on suicide prevention initiatives)The OIG issued 12 recommendations for improvement in four areas:1. Quality, safety, and value• Peer review aspects of care• Peer Review Committee recommendations• Communication and implementation of recommendations2. Medical staff privileging• Service-specific criteria in professional practice evaluations3. Environment of care• Inspections• Deficiency monitoring until resolution• Over-the-door alarm testing• Hazard warning signs• Safety and cleanliness4. Mental health• Suicide-related events reporting• Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluations• Notification of suicidal behaviors

SIGPR 13th Quarterly Report to Congress

Objective: To determine whether the Social Security Administration had effective controls to annotate death information on the Numident records of numberholders who exceeded maximum reasonable life expectancies.

During our unannounced inspection of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Stewart Detention Center (Stewart) in Lumpkin, Georgia, we found that Stewart complied with standards for the voluntary work program, law libraries and legal materials, and facility conditions.

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. 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 $11.3 billion, criminal prosecutions by the Department of Justice and others of 474 defendants—325 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 has consistently identified fraud, waste, abuse, ineffectiveness, inefficiency, and risk in EESA programs, and brought transparency to EESA.

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Native American Programs’ (ONAP) coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) recovery programs.  We performed this audit to provide HUD with insight and a nationwide perspective on the challenges that grantees experienced with those programs.  Our audit objectives were to identify 1) the information, guidance, and training HUD provided to the grantees for the ONAP COVID-19 recovery programs and 2) the challenges that grantees faced in implementing and using program-provided funding.HUD provided information, guidance, and training to assist grantees in navigating the ONAP COVID-19 recovery programs soon after the funding was appropriated through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and American Rescue Plan Act in 2020 and 2021 to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19.  Most grantees reported that they were satisfied with the resources and assistance HUD provided.  Despite HUD’s efforts, ONAP COVID-19 recovery program grantees reported facing challenges in using funds that were primarily outside of HUD’s control, including a lack of supplies (and increased cost of supplies), contractors, and capacity.  These challenges occurred in part due to many factors, such as the worldwide supply chain problems; the influx of Federal funding; and existing systemic problems, including the lack of affordable housing.  As a result, approximately $531.5 million of the $1.03 billion that Congress authorized for the ONAP COVID-19 recovery programs remained available to be drawn by grantees (approximately 52 percent) approximately 2 years after the funding was appropriated. We recommend that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for ONAP consider grantee feedback on the challenges they faced as part of ONAP’s planning for technical assistance and training of ONAP COVID-19 recovery program grantees.

We determined the Department did not ensure grant funds and State hunting and fishing license revenue were used for allowable fish and wildlife activities and did not comply with applicable laws.

We determined whether the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) awarded ReConnect Program funding to eligible projects and accurately used the evaluation criteria to score and rank applications.

David Pugliese, a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida, pleaded guilty on July 28, 2023, in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, to Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud. Pugliese was the manager and registered agent of Capital Advantage Diagnostics, LLC, which was purportedly in the business of performing a variety of laboratory tests for various health care providers.Our investigation found that Pugliese and others submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Amtrak’s insurance providers for claims that were not medically necessary or for laboratory tests that were never performed. Pugliese solicited beneficiary information and specimens for testing through the use of individual laboratory representatives and paid bribes to these representatives for specimens they provided. As a result of the scheme, Amtrak’s insurance providers were fraudulently billed approximately $315,474. Pugliese will be sentenced at a future date.

EVALUATION OF THE FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY'S COMPLIANCE WITH THE FEDERAL INFORMATION SECURITY MANAGEMENT ACT FISCAL YEAR 2023

Coast Guard instituted controls for P.L. 85-804 extraordinary relief. Specifically, Coast Guard hired a senior review team for an independent status review of the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program and commissioned independent reviews of the contractor’s business systems. After receiving the contractor’s request for extraordinary relief, Coast Guard created P.L. 85-804 review and re-compete teams to review the contractor’s cost and schedule relief request. In addition, to cover the operational gaps while the contractor built the OPCs, Coast Guard created a service program to extend the useful life of its 270-foot Medium Endurance Cutters.

Coast Guard instituted controls for P.L. 85-804 extraordinary relief. Specifically, Coast Guard hired a senior review team for an independent status review of the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program and commissioned independent reviews of the contractor’s business systems. After receiving the contractor’s request for extraordinary relief, Coast Guard created P.L. 85-804 review and re-compete teams to review the contractor’s cost and schedule relief request. In addition, to cover the operational gaps while the contractor built the OPCs, Coast Guard created a service program to extend the useful life of its 270-foot Medium Endurance Cutters.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection to assess allegations regarding a disruption to the facility’s oxygen line, patient safety concerns, and facility leaders’ response at the West Haven VA Medical Center (facility) in Connecticut.A construction company unintentionally cut the facility’s oxygen line, causing an oxygen disruption. While the facility relied on portable oxygen tanks and concentrators, a patient experienced an adverse event, and ultimately died after a period of inadequate oxygen supply. The OIG found that a lack of accessible equipment, education, and training contributed to the patient’s adverse event. The OIG was unable to determine whether this led to the patient’s unresponsiveness or death. No other patients experienced adverse clinical outcomes.The OIG determined that after the oxygen disruption, facility staff transitioned patients to portable oxygen tanks and concentrators, while facility leaders implemented incident command processes. However, the OIG found a lack of communication between facility leaders, staff, and patients when deciding to continue providing care to patients requiring oxygen at the facility.Prior to the oxygen disruption, facility staff did not complete the required risk assessment involving patient safety staff, and the contractor’s work was not adequately observed. Additionally, there was a lack of periodic drills for utility emergencies and a lack of knowledge of emergency procedures.The OIG found deficiencies with administrative and quality reviews that included• failure to ensure timely patient safety reports and root cause analyses,• inhibited peer review processes due to clinical staff’s inadequate documentation,• failure to clinically disclose the incident regarding the patient,• concerns with the validity of a fact-finding review, and• preparation for OIG interviews with incomplete and inaccurate information.The OIG made 12 recommendations related to communication, emergency preparedness, construction risk assessments and oversight, administrative and quality reviews, and preparation for OIG interviews.

As required by the Federal Information Security Modernization Act, OIG reviewed USDA's ongoing efforts to improve its information technology security program and practices during Fiscal Year 2023.

Our work included reviewing and reporting information about the Bioproduct Pilot Program (BPP), from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) through a review of publicly available information, discussions with National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) officials, and a review of relevant documentation obtained from NIFA.

Implementing corrective actions on the open and unresolved recommendations contained in this Compendium could have potential monetary benefits of $74.6 million.

Our objective was to evaluate the internal controls over travel expenses within the PRC to determine if they were properly supported and in compliance with travel practices, policies, and procedures. Our audit tested for the existence of issues similar to those identified in previous audits to determine whether the implemented controls were effective. The scope of our audit was October 1, 2013, through September 30, 2022, and included international, domestic, and local travel vouchers. Our scope period covers all travel paid since the most recent audit of PRC travel.

Inspector General CyberScope Submission

This management advisory provides information to the FWS regarding unfunded retirement liability charges to WSFR grants.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) defines critical spares as components or parts needed to (1) prevent loss of generation or transmission, (2) prevent unsafe operating conditions, and/or (3) return critical components to service. TVA identified 45,934 critical components for its 18 natural gas plants. Due to the importance of critical spare parts being available to reduce safety and generation impacts when equipment fails, we conducted an evaluation to determine if TVA adequately identified, stocked, and maintained critical spare parts for gas plants.We found most gas plant critical components have not been evaluated to identify critical spare parts. In January 2023, TVA’s dashboard for tracking progress towards identifying critical spare parts indicated only 291 of 45,934 critical components in the gas fleet had been reviewed. We identified the following contributing factors: (1) limited resources dedicated to reviewing existing components to identify critical spare parts, (2) Power Operations not having governing procedures defining the process for identifying critical spare parts, and (3) incomplete inventory data in TVA’s system of record for inventory, asset, and location information. We also found not all identified critical spare parts were in stock or set to reorder once used. Additionally, we found (1) some improvements were needed to properly store and maintain critical spare parts, and (2) improvements are needed to maintain the useful life of certain items such as those with electronic components or requiring preventive maintenance while in storage. This report, specifically identifies the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) a non-governmental organization/business entity. Pursuant to the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, Pub. L. No. 117-263, § 5274, any such organization may submit a written response to the report within 30 days, clarifying or providing additional context for each instance within the report in which the organization is specifically identified. Any response provided for that purpose will be appended to the final, published report. If you have any questions about this process, please contact Jeffrey McKenzie at 865-633-7374 or jtmckenzie@tvaoig.gov within 30 days of publication.

We reviewed the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) blanket purchase agreement with Highlight Technologies, LLC for loan support services.To meet the increased demand for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) loan program support services, SBA issued labor hour contracts, e.g. call orders, using an existing blanket purchase agreement. However, SBA contracting officials did not always perform adequate price analyses, awarding contracts that were not the best use of taxpayer funds. SBA did not establish adequate guidance to ensure contracting officials consistently followed federal regulations. Instead of using the rates originally contracted for each loan center, officials approved that all labor rates could be billed at the Washington, D.C. region rates, which were the highest rates of all regions proposed.We also found that SBA did not actively monitor call orders to ensure compliance with the Limitation on Subcontracting Rule, which resulted in Highlight assigning more than 50 percent of its work on five orders to subcontractors who should not have received the majority of the work.

The SEC Took Appropriate Workplace Safety Actions in Accordance With Pandemic Guidance But Could Improve Communications, Report No. 579

In a joint investigation with GSA OIG, we found that a BIA employee’s theft through misuse of Government fleet credit cards exceeded $10,000.

The United States Capitol Police requires that all employees receive prior approval before participating in outside employment or voluntary work.  The Office of Inspector General identified instances where USCP offices and employees did not comply with the Department’s policies and procedures regarding outside employment and volunteer work.

Leslie Ezidore, a resident of Los Angeles, California, and owner of the now-defunct Irvine Wellness Pharmacy, was sentenced on July 24, 2023, in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, to 6 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution of $12,715,679, including $26,962 to Amtrak, for Health Care Fraud and Illegal Remunerations in Connection with Federal Health Care Programs.Alexander Semenik, a medical marketer based in Las Vegas, Nevada, was previously sentenced on May 9, 2023, in U.S. District Court, for the Central District of California, to 3 years in prison, 2 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay joint restitution of $1,721,644 for Illegal Remunerations in Connection with Federal Health Care Programs.Our investigation found that as part of the health care fraud scheme, beneficiaries were solicited to provide their insurance information to a pharmacist for medications they did not seek or need. Ezidore and other co-conspirators paid kickbacks to marketers who provided unnecessary prescriptions to Irvine Wellness. Semenik was paid kickbacks for patient referrals he made to fill unnecessary prescriptions at the pharmacy. As a result of the scheme, Amtrak’s health care plan was billed $32,489 of which $26,962 was paid, and Tricare, the U.S. military’s health care plan, paid $12,264,685 on the fraudulently submitted claims. A codefendant in this case, Sandy Nguyen, was the pharmacist-in-charge of Irvine Wellness Pharmacy and was previously sentenced in this case.

Objectives: To determine whether the Social Security Administration’s automation enhancements (1) reduced manual processing for resource-intensive workloads and (2) were cost-effective.

We conducted this work as part of our ongoing integrated oversight of the funding provided to the Forest Service's Hazardous Fuels Management Program by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

Although the Department of Homeland Security and its components implemented internal controls to ensure Bankcard Program spending limits are established based on procurement needs, components did not always adhere to internal control policies and procedures. Of the 787 bankcard cardholder accounts reviewed, all purchase and fleet cardholder accounts had issues in one or more key internal control areas, such as documenting the determination of procurement needs, decision authority, and oversight activities.

We performed an audit related to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Disaster Recovery Data Portal. The Disaster Recovery Data Portal is a technological solution planned by HUD to facilitate the rapid and secure transmission of data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grantees. We performed the work because HUD needs a solution to automate delivery of data to its grantees and because Congress directed HUD to prioritize the project. Our objective was to determine the status of HUD’s Disaster Recovery Data Portal and whether it would be an effective tool to assist grantees in preventing and detecting duplication of benefits when using disaster recovery and mitigation grant funds.HUD’s Disaster Recovery Data Portal was in the initial stages of project planning to complete the application that had been partially developed in 2017. We found that (1) HUD prioritized the project but had not developed all of the required project management documents, and (2) the Disaster Recovery Data Portal has the potential, once deployed, to be an effective mechanism to assist grantees in preventing and detecting duplication of benefits. However, the project’s performance plan indicated that the Disaster Recovery Data Portal would include data from only one FEMA program, and HUD’s grantees could benefit from including additional data sources. HUD had not developed the project management documents because the project team had been waiting for congressional approval of its project plan. Until the project is completed, HUD does not have an automated system to share FEMA data with its disaster grantees. As a result, HUD personnel invest additional time and effort to deliver FEMA data to grantees using a manual process, and grantees remain burdened with the responsibility of obtaining data separately for other potential sources of duplication.We recommended that HUD’s Office of the Chief Information Officer and Office of Policy Development and Research (1) develop the required project management documents for the Disaster Recovery Data Portal and (2) in coordination with the Office of Disaster Recovery, pursue additional data sources to incorporate into the Disaster Recovery Data Portal.

This Office of Inspector General Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the inpatient and outpatient care provided at the VA Central California Health Care System in Fresno, which includes the Fresno VA Medical Center and multiple outpatient clinics in California. This evaluation focused on five key operational areas:• Leadership and organizational risks• Quality, safety, and value• Medical staff privileging• Environment of care• Mental health (focusing on emergency department and urgent care center prevention initiatives)The OIG issued two recommendations for improvement in two areas:1. Leadership and organizational risks• Institutional disclosures2. Mental health• Suicide risk evaluations

The objective of this statutory audit was to determine whether the Department complied with the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) for FY 2022. We found that the Department did not comply with the PIIA because it did not meet one of the six compliance requirements. Specifically, the Department reported improper payment and unknown payment estimates for the Title I, Special Education, and Education Stabilization Fund programs that exceeded 10 percent. We also determined that the Department’s improper payment and unknown payment estimates for five programs (Title I, Special Education, Education Stabilization Fund, Pell, and Direct Loan) were not reliable. Specifically, for the Title I and Special Education programs, the improper payment and unknown payment estimates were based on inaccurate sampling populations. For the Title I, Special Education, and Education Stabilization Fund programs, the Department’s testing results were inaccurate; and the improper payment sampling and estimation plan for the Pell and Direct Loan programs included nonrandom student-level sampling from some of the compliance audits FSA used to calculate the estimates, which affected the appropriateness of the confidence intervals used in the calculation of the improper payment and unknown payment estimates.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not consistently implement effective access controls to restrict access to its network and information technology (IT) systems. Although ICE took a multi-layered approach to managing access for personnel who change positions or leave the component altogether, we determined that ICE did not consistently manage or remove access when personnel separated or changed positions.

Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) worked with its strategic partners to deliver critical medical supplies and equipment in response to COVID-19, FEMA did not effectively manage the distribution process. Specifically, FEMA did not use the Logistics Supply Chain Management System (LSCMS), its system of record for managing the distribution process, to track about 30 percent of the critical medical resources shipped, as required.