Federal Reports

Objective: To (1) evaluate internal controls over the accounting and reporting of administrative costs by the California Disability Determination Services (CADDS) for Fiscal Years (FY) 2017 and 2018; (2) determine whether the administrative costs claimed on the most recently submitted Form SSA-4513 were allowable and properly allocated; (3) reconcile funds drawn down with claimed costs; and (4) assess the general security controls environment.Note: 4 of 10 recommendations not published; related to sensitive IT matters.

Peer Review: System Review Report on the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Inspector General Audit Organization

Objective: To (1) determine whether the Social Security Administration (SSA) made payments to beneficiaries and/or representative payees who were deceased according to California Department of Public Health records and (2) identify non-beneficiaries in the State files whose death information did not appear in Agency records.

The objectives of our audit were to determine whether National Aviation Academy of Tampa Bay (1) applied and documented its use of professional judgment in accordance with sections 479A and 480 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), and (2) reported its use of professional judgment in accordance with the Application and Verification Guide. National Aviation Academy of Tampa Bay did not adequately document special circumstances for 34 of the 37 students for whom it applied professional judgment, including dependency override, for award year 2017–2018 or award year 2018–2019. Because the school did not adequately document special circumstances, its application of professional judgment, including dependency override, was not in accordance with sections 479A and 480 of the HEA. Although it did not adequately document its use of professional judgment, including dependency override, National Aviation Academy of Tampa Bay reported all instances of its use of professional judgment, including dependency override, to the Department’s Central Processing System in accordance with the Application and Verification Guide.

Judy Azar, a medical assistant based in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, on September 24, 2021, to health care fraud, bank fraud, identity theft and tax fraud. Our investigation found that Azar participated in a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs by using false and fraudulent pretenses in connection with the delivery of, and payment for, health care benefits and services.Azar forged a doctor’s signature to fraudulently authorize prescription refills and then sold a portion of the filled prescriptions to interested buyers. The buyers paid Azar with checks made payable to the doctor. Azar then forged the doctor’s signature to endorse the checks, which were then deposited in bank accounts controlled by Azar. As a result of the scheme, Amtrak’s insurance providers were fraudulently charged approximately $13,500.

The objective of our audit was to determine whether Lincoln College of Technology (Lincoln) used the Student Aid (Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.425E) and Institutional (ALN 84.425F) portions of its Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) funds for allowable and intended purposes. We also reviewed Lincoln’s cash management practices and the timeliness and quality of the data Lincoln reported on its use of HEERF funds.LESC generally used the Student Aid portion of Lincoln’s HEERF funds for allowable and intended purposes but did not always use the Institutional portion of its funds in accordance with Federal requirements. We found that LESC did not adequately document eligibility determinations for a small number of students who received emergency financial aid grants, improperly applied Institutional grant funds to credit student accounts, improperly charged expenditures that extended beyond the grant performance period, and did not follow cash management requirements.