Federal Reports

What We Looked AtWe queried and downloaded 70 single audit reports prepared by non-Federal auditors and submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse between April 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. We used the reports to identify significant findings related to programs directly funded by the Department of Transportation (DOT).What We FoundThe reports contained a range of findings that impacted DOT programs. The auditors reported significant noncompliance with Federal guidelines related to 13 grantees that require prompt action from DOT's Operating Administrations (OA). The auditors also identified questioned costs totaling $32,153,264 for eight grantees. Of this amount, $31.2 million was related to Amtrak and $212,788 to COVID-19 Formula Grants for the Rural Areas Program.RecommendationsWe recommend that DOT coordinate with the impacted OAs to develop a corrective action plan to resolve and close the findings identified in this report. We also recommend that DOT determine the allowability of the questioned transactions and recover $32,153,264, if applicable.

Kevin Nelson, a resident of New York, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, on August 30, 2021, to Aggravated Identity Theft for his involvement in an Amtrak eVoucher scheme. Nelson and his co-conspirators used stolen credit card and personal information to make unauthorized purchases of Amtrak tickets and then cancelled or exchanged those tickets for eVouchers. Subsequently, they sold the fraudulently obtained eVouchers on the internet. The approximate loss to Amtrak from the scheme is $450,000. Nelson’s sentencing is pending.

Account Identifier Code (AIC) 553, Refund Postage and Fees, is used to record refunds of customers postage and fees paid for special services not received. OIG data analytics identified the Norristown Tri‑County Post Office had about $266,790 recorded to AIC 553 from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, the highest in the nation. For fiscal year (FY) 2020, the total was $248,298 — 48 percent of the total for the DE-PA2 district. For FYs 2018 and 2019, the totals for AIC 553 were only $691 and $967 (0.53 percent and 0.58 percent of the district total), respectively.The objective of this audit was to determine whether postage and fee refunds are valid and properly supported and processed at the Norristown Tri‑County Post Office.

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The objective of our audit was to determine whether the Department of Education (Department) is providing adequate oversight of grantee performance and funds awarded under the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) program and is ensuring that State educational agencies (SEA) are meeting reporting requirements as established by the Every Student Succeeds Act. We found that the Office of Safe and Supportive Schools (OSSS) has provided inadequate oversight of grantee performance and funds awarded under the SSAE program. While OSSS has provided some general oversight of the SSAE program, formal monitoring activities have been limited. We also found that OSSS’ risk assessment process could benefit from consideration of additional risk factors in calculating risk scores.

The Postal Service offers up to $5,000 of insurance coverage as protection against the loss of or damage to a customer’s package. When an insured item is lost or damaged, the customer may request compensation by filing an indemnity claim online, by mail, or at a postal retail unit. If an indemnity claim is domestic and valued at [redacted] or less, it is automatically adjudicated; otherwise, it is manually adjudicated. All international indemnity claims are manually adjudicated.Our objective was to determine whether the Postal Service properly processed and paid manually adjudicated indemnity claims.