Investigative Reports

Hanna Dinh, a California resident, was sentenced on February 12, 2024, in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Dinh was sentenced to 20 months in prison, followed by 3 years’ probation, of which 7 months is to be served as home confinement.Our investigation found that Dinh and others made false statements to lenders in connection with fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for her company, HD Financial Firm. The applications included false representations regarding the number of employees on the company’s payroll and false certifications that the loans would be used for permissible business purposes. Dinh incorporated HD Financial Firm in June 2020 and was its sole officer and registered agent. Dinh and others submitted fraudulent EIDL and PPP loan applications seeking approximately $260,672.This investigation is part of a nationwide law enforcement action that resulted in criminal charges against 18 defendants for their alleged participation in fraud schemes that exploited the COVID-19 relief funds. A co-defendant in this case, Dr. Anthony Hao Dinh, a licensed doctor of osteopathy who was an ear, nose, and throat specialist and a facial plastic surgeon, was charged in September 2023 for allegedly defrauding the Health Resources and Services Administration Uninsured Program of approximately $230 million. Anthony Hao Dinh allegedly submitted fraudulent claims to the Uninsured Program for treatment of patients, including Amtrak employees, who were, in fact, insured. In addition, Anthony Hao Dinh allegedly billed for services not rendered and for services that were not medically necessary.

We found a subcontractor falsified documentation regarding clearing production platforms, causing the lessee to provide these documents to BSEE.

We conducted an extensive review of foul time logs and bridge logs for two Connecticut bridges—the Thames River Bridge and the Shaw’s Cove Bridge—and found 17 occasions in 2022 when Buildings & Bridges employees potentially fouled the tracks by passing within four feet of the near running rail without requesting the required foul time. In addition, we confirmed this information through employee interviews. Our review supported assertions that the employees did not request foul time, as required, but we were unable to determine if the required safety job briefings were given. We received a response from company officials on February 5, 2024, describing corrective actions they plan to take in response to our review.

A Digital Technology employee based in Michigan violated company policies by failing to report outside employment with at least two other companies on her Certificate of Compliance she submitted on October 10, 2023. We also identified computer misuse related to the outside employment. She was terminated on February 2, 2024, and is ineligible for rehire.

A contractor agreed to reimburse Amtrak $771,813 for overbilling base labor and overhead rates on contracts that required the use of actual labor and indirect cost rates. The contractor voluntarily self-reported the overbilling to our office on July 26, 2022, after conducting internal audits related to two prior OIG investigations. On January 30, 2024, the contractor resolved these billing issues with Amtrak, covering overbilling on 22 contracts during the period from 2016 to 2022.

The fiscal year 2024 investigative priorities address the most significant challenges related to the programs and operations of the EPA and the CSB.

David Pugliese, a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida, was sentenced on January 12, 2024, in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, for Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud. Pugliese was sentenced to 30 months in prison, two years’ probation, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,238,699. Pugliese was the manager and registered agent of Capital Advantage Diagnostics, LLC, which was purportedly in the business of performing a variety of laboratory tests for various health care providers.Our investigation found that Pugliese and others submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Amtrak’s insurance providers for claims that were not medically necessary or for laboratory tests that were never performed. Pugliese solicited beneficiary information and specimens for testing through the use of individual laboratory representatives and paid bribes to these representatives for specimens they provided. As a result of the scheme, Amtrak’s insurance providers were billed approximately $315,474.

Marc Hoang, a pharmacist based in West Covina, California, was sentenced on January 8, 2024, in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, for making a false statement related to a health care fraud investigation. Hoang was sentenced to two years’ probation.Our investigation found that Hoang knowingly and willfully made a materially false and fraudulent statement on a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) form. Hoang submitted the form to the DEA to renew the controlled substances registration for his former pharmacy. On the form, Hoang represented that he was the person who distributed the controlled substances and was the officer and point of contact for the pharmacy, when in fact, he was not. Hoang 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 health 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.

An Amtrak Senior manager based in Philadelphia was terminated from employment on December 8, 2023, as the result of our investigation that found he submitted falsified applications to the Small Business Administration for a Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Economic Injury Disaster Loan. In addition, the former employee signed a civil settlement agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida, and agreed to pay $25,441 in restitution related to the fraudulent loan.

An Amtrak Train Attendant based in Miami, Florida, was terminated from employment on January 2, 2024, following our investigation. Our investigation found that the employee violated company policies by engaging in outside employment at several companies while on a medical leave of absence. During her interview, the employee admitted that she was employed full-time with various employers from 2019 through 2023.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reported to our office that a contractor employed by Amtrak as a project manager/consultant was also working as a full-time senior employee at WMATA. Beginning in October 2023, the contract worker was working a full-time schedule for Amtrak that significantly overlapped with his work schedule for WMATA. During his interview with WMATA OIG and Amtrak OIG agents, the contractor admitted to working both jobs and to violating time and attendance policies.The Amtrak vendor terminated the contract employee on December 26, 2023, for violating his conditions of employment. On December 28, 2023, he resigned from WMATA.

The EPA OIG Office of Investigations has identified concerns regarding the EPA’s failure to properly oversee and administer its Clean School Bus Program.

An investigation of alleged misuse of government resources by an FEC employee.

An Amtrak Conductor based in Jacksonville, Florida, signed a deferred prosecution agreement in the Seventh Judicial Circuit, State of Florida, on December 22, 2023. The charges will be dismissed if the employee fulfills the terms of the agreement. Our investigation found that the employee attempted to sell high-security railroad switch keys on Facebook Marketplace. The employee was previously suspended from employment without pay in lieu of termination for a period of 67 days.