Investigative Reports

An Amtrak conductor based in Los Angeles, California, was terminated from employment on August 13, 2024, following an administrative hearing. Our investigation found that the employee violated company policies by failing to report his arrest for driving under the influence.

An Amtrak train attendant based in Charlotte, North Carolina, signed a civil settlement agreement on August 13, 2024, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina. The employee agreed to pay a total of $10,800 in settlement, restitution, and penalties to the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). Our investigation found that the employee worked a second job while receiving RRB sickness benefits. We found that between July 19, 2021, and January 16, 2022, the employee submitted at least 13 false claims to the RRB for sickness benefits. As a result, the employee received $8,282 in benefits to which she was not entitled.

Michael Holder, an Amtrak assignment clerk based in Chicago, Illinois, pleaded guilty on June 5, 2024, in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, to two counts of Wire Fraud related to the fraudulent receipt of benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Our investigation found that Holder provided false and fictitious information to support an Economic Injury Disaster Loan application to the Small Business Administration. Further, Holder provided false and fictitious information to a financial institution to support a Paycheck Protection Program loan. Holder obtained a total of $30,833 to support his purported personally owned business. Holder will be sentenced at a future date.

Sean Langston, a former Amtrak supervisor based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty and was sentenced for his role in a wide-ranging pandemic fraud scheme on July 30, 2024, in Chester County, Pennsylvania State Court. Langston was sentenced to 6 months in prison, 6 months home incarceration and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $295,418. Our investigation found that Langston fraudulently applied for and received two Economic Injury Disaster loans and a Paycheck Protection Program loan totaling $268,487.The employee was previously terminated for falsely claiming and accepting payment for regular pay, overtime pay, and compensatory time for days he did not work and for using his company-owned vehicle for unauthorized purposes during work hours, including personal business.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) conducted a proactive review of
AmeriCorps employees who may have improperly applied for and received unemployment
insurance (UI) payments while actively employed.
AmeriCorps OIG developed a list of potential matches of AmeriCorps employees and individuals
who had applied for UI benefits. AmeriCorps OIG identified ten potential matches for further
investigation.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated an allegation that AmeriCorps members serving at the Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) in Burlington, VT, were directed to alter previously approved timesheets. The investigation foundevidence that CEDO’s AmeriCorps Program Director had directed five members to alter previously approved timesheets, including altering timesheets weeks after the end of their service terms in order to raise the hours served to meet the minimum threshold to earn Segal Education Awards.

We found that a former BOR employee violated Federal ethics laws by accepting gifts in the form of loans from a Government contractor.

We did not substantiate allegations that a DOI official did not comply with the ethics regulation regarding personal and business relationships.

An Amtrak Director based in Chicago, Illinois, was terminated from employment on July 3, 2024, following the issuance of our investigative report. Our investigation found that the employee, along with another former employee, violated company policies by surreptitiously transmitting confidential company information without authorization to do so. Specifically, the employee transmitted the information to a private rail advocacy organization, resulting in its publication in the press and jeopardizing the company’s relationship with its stakeholders.

Navanjun Grewal, a doctor based in Los Angeles, California, was sentenced on July 2, 2024, in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, for making a false statement and for obstructing a federal audit related to a health care fraud investigation. Grewal was sentenced to two years’ probation and was ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution.Our investigation found that Grewal knowingly and willfully submitted a fraudulent document to the Department of Defense in response to an audit request regarding prescriptions for compounded medications that had been submitted to TRICARE for reimbursement. Grewal created and submitted fraudulent patient files in response to the audit. Grewal was part of a large health care fraud scheme in which beneficiaries were solicited to provide their insurance information to a pharmacist for medication they did not seek or need. As a result of the scheme, Amtrak’s heath 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.