Federal Reports

The CSB faces two management challenges that, if not addressed, may seriously impede the agency’s ability to achieve its mission efficiently and effectively.

The OIG investigated allegations that Georgie Russell, Chief Financial Officer for the Chippewa Cree Construction Company (C-4), embezzled funds from C-4 and Dry Forks Farm, a tribally owned business. We also investigated allegations that Russell submitted false quarterly financial reports to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) for the federally funded Rocky Boys/North Central Montana Regional Water System Project.Our investigation confirmed that Russel embezzled funds from C-4 and Dry Forks Farm by falsifying time sheets and authorizing fraudulent payments. We also found that Russell submitted false quarterly financial reports to USBR, in which she misrepresented C-4’s cash on hand for the water project by as much as $1.7 million. Russell pled guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana to theft and filing false statements. She was sentenced to 18 months in Federal prison and ordered to repay $61,230 in restitution.

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We investigated allegations that James Milestone, Superintendent of California’s Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (WHIS), National Park Service (NPS), solicited donations and inappropriately collected funds for the park partner organization Friends of Whiskeytown (FOW). We also investigated allegations that Milestone had park employees work on FOW projects while on duty, misused maintenance project funds, disregarded compliance rules and other requirements for a trail project, engaged in gender discrimination and sexual harassment, and misused a Government-owned vehicle.We substantiated the allegations that Milestone routinely violated Federal regulations and NPS policies and found that he demonstrated questionable leadership practices:• Milestone admitted that he had solicited and collected donations for the FOW and asked his subordinates and a park concessionaire to do the same.• Milestone violated ethics regulations by offering the services of WHIS employees and its lodging accommodations to the FOW for fundraising events.• Milestone ignored departmental policy and compliance requirements and improperly redirected funding for a proposed trail project.• Milestone communicated unprofessionally with his staff, including making inappropriate gender-based remarks.• Milestone routinely misused a Government-owned vehicle; we also determined that he demonstrated a lack of candor when he denied the misuse.We provided this report to the NPS Deputy Director, who is exercising the authority of the NPS Director, for any action deemed appropriate.

Illinois implemented most of the new criminal background check requirements established under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. However, certain criminal background check requirements for childcare providers remained unimplemented as of March 1, 2018, and significant challenges may delay full implementation until 2019 or 2020. Specifically, these challenges include unavailable finances and staff to process the background checks, data system limitations, and required changes to State laws or policies and procedures. Illinois currently has until September 30, 2018, to implement the new criminal background check requirements. The outstanding challenges may lead Illinois to request an additional 1-year waiver from the Administration for Children and Families to address the challenges and comply with the new requirements.

The OIG investigated allegations that counterfeit purchase requests for high value electronic goods, appearing to have been sent by officials in the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Acquisition and Property Management (PAM), had been sent to small businesses throughout the United States.We substantiated the allegations. We found fraudulent emails and purchase requests linked to at least two PAM employees who had not written or authorized the documents. We found that the suspect used an online service that masked the sender’s email address and gave victims the impression the emails were sent from official “.gov” email accounts. There were no indications that any of the fraudulent purchase attempts were successful.Our findings indicated the subject was likely outside of the United States and there was no apparent loss to the Government or any of the small businesses, so we closed our investigation.

Previous OIG reviews have identified Medicaid personal care services in New York as vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse. Based on these results, we decided to review New York's consumer-directed personal assistance program (CDPAP) services, which include personal care, home health, and nursing services. New York's CDPAP permits chronically ill and physically disabled beneficiaries flexibility and freedom in choosing, training, and supervising their providers. New York claimed Federal Medicaid reimbursement totaling more than $579 million for CDPAP services provided from January 2012 through June 2016 (audit period).

The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) of 1992, P.L. No. 102-571, authorized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collect prescription drug user fees from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seeking FDA approval of certain human drug and biological products to expedite the review of human drug applications. Congress must reauthorize the PDUFA every 5 years; it was renewed in 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017. FDA expects to use the prescription drug user fees it collects under the PDUFA to meet its goals for the timely review of human drug applications. We performed this audit to determine whether FDA accurately computed prescription drug user fee rates.

The report represents the first product in OIG’s review of the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) implementation of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the Act). The purpose of this report is to highlight key EDA oversight challenges and best practices—based on prior OIG reports and other agencies’ relevant work—and identify actions EDA should take now in support of the Act’s requirements.