Investigative Reports

Regina Murphy, a resident of Kankakee, Illinois, was sentenced on June 3, 2026, in U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, to time served, one year of probation, and was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution in connection with a pandemic-relief fraud scheme.

Our investigation found that Regina and Octavia Murphy, along with 12 alleged codefendants, including five Amtrak employees, submitted false information to the Small Business Administration and its participating lenders to receive Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) advances, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, and PPP loan forgiveness. Octavia Murphy orchestrated a scheme whereby she submitted false applications containing material misstatements and fictitious documentation to make claims for pandemic relief programs on behalf of herself and the other co-conspirators, for which she was paid kickbacks. Regina Murphy and numerous co-conspirators voluntarily provided Octavia Murphy with their personally identifiable information and their bank routing transit and account numbers. As a result of the scheme, Octavia Murphy, Regina Murphy and the other codefendants received $93,000 in EIDL advances and $74,428 in PPP loans to which they were not entitled.

Judicial proceedings for the codefendants are ongoing.

We found that the New York State Museum did not meet its State match requirements and violated the terms and conditions of its USGS grant.

An Amtrak lead operational specialist based in Washington, D.C., was terminated from employment on May 27, 2026, following the issuance of our investigative report. Our investigation found that the former employee violated company policy by allowing a non-employee to accompany him in restricted areas without proper authorization and for knowingly submitting expenses and receiving reimbursements for meals for non-company employees. The former employee is not eligible for rehire.

Over a 2-year period, the FTC OIG assessed 23 potential disclosures of nonpublic FTC information (NPI) to the media. To determine whether unauthorized disclosures of NPI occurred and, if so, the source of those disclosures, the OIG conducted extensive investigative activities. Over the course of the investigation, the OIG documented patterns in the disclosures but was unable to identify a responsible individual.   

We found that a gas company produced Federal minerals from wells in Utah but failed to report mineral production or royalties.