Investigative Reports

Nestor Rojas, a resident of Miami, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud on April 21, 2022. Our investigation found that Rojas conspired with others to unlawfully bill for approximately $1.4 billion of laboratory testing services which were medically unnecessary and fraudulently used rural hospitals as billing shells to submit claims for services that mostly were performed at outside laboratories. As a result of this scheme, Amtrak’s health care plans paid out more than $610,000 to three rural hospitals and associated laboratories. Rojas will be sentenced at a future date. Criminal judicial proceedings for additional co-conspirators are pending.

Dominique Henley, a former Amtrak baggageman based in Chicago, pleaded guilty to identity theft and was sentenced in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, on April 20, 2022, to 24 months’ probation. Our investigation found that Henley was in possession of 21 Social Security cards and 13 state and government-issued identification cards belonging to 21 different individuals. We found that of the 21 individuals’ identification documents in his possession, 19 were previously located in the Chicago Union Station lost and found or were reported lost on Amtrak trains. Henley was terminated from employment on November 3, 2020.

This investigation was initiated based on a Highway Contract Route driver for the Postal Service who alleged he transported completed mail-in ballots across state lines from Bethpage, NY, to Lancaster, PA, on October 21, 2020.

We substantiated allegations related to missing National Park Service equipment, including power tools, at the San Juan National Historic Site.

An Information Technology Manager based in Washington, D.C., was terminated from the company on March 30, 2022. We found that the manager violated company policies by discussing bidding strategies with a vendor and providing exclusive access to company facilities prior to the vendor submitting its bid to the company, giving the vendor an unfair competitive advantage.

The OIG conducted an administrative investigation that included a congressional request to look into allegations that Charmain Bogue, former executive director of the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Education Service, committed ethical violations arising from her spouse’s consulting work for Veterans Education Success (VES). VES is a nonprofit advocacy group that regularly had business before the Education Service. The allegations also pointed to possible incomplete financial disclosures by Ms. Bogue concerning her spouse’s consulting business. In the course of their work, investigators uncovered evidence of other potential conflicts of interest and related misconduct by Ms. Bogue.As a result of the investigation, the OIG made four findings. First, Ms. Bogue participated in Education Service matters involving VES without considering whether it raised an apparent conflict of interest and acted contrary to ethics guidance she received from her supervisors. Second, Ms. Bogue sought résumé feedback from the president of VES to aid in her search for career advancement without considering whether this raised apparent conflict of interest concerns in subsequent VES matters. VES also endorsed Ms. Bogue for presidential nominee positions. Third, although Ms. Bogue provided insufficient detail about her spouse’s business in 2019 and 2020 public financial disclosures, VA ethics attorneys had found them compliant. She remedied the subsequently identified deficiency in her 2021 disclosure. Finally, the OIG found that Ms. Bogue refused to cooperate fully in the OIG’s investigation by refusing to complete her follow-up interview. Her husband and VES president also refused to participate in OIG interviews, and the OIG lacks testimonial subpoena authority over individuals who are not VA employees. Ms. Bogue resigned from VA in January 2022 and, as a result, the OIG made no recommendations. VA concurred with the OIG’s findings.

Brian Kerr, former Building and Bridges Assistant Supervisor, pleaded guilty in New York County Supreme Court on March 23, 2022, to two misdemeanor counts to Falsify Business Records: Make False Entry. He was sentenced to a conditional discharge and ordered to pay restitution to the company in the amount of $360.23. Kerr, among others, participated in a scheme to intentionally misuse company badges and/or create counterfeit badges that he and the others fraudulently “swiped” for one another, via Amtrak’s time and attendance machines, to clock-in or out. Kerr resigned on February 21, 2022, and is ineligible for rehire.