Investigative Reports

David Pugliese, a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida, pleaded guilty on July 28, 2023, in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, to Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud. 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 fraudulently billed approximately $315,474. Pugliese will be sentenced at a future date.

In a joint investigation with GSA OIG, we found that a BIA employee’s theft through misuse of Government fleet credit cards exceeded $10,000.

Leslie Ezidore, a resident of Los Angeles, California, and owner of the now-defunct Irvine Wellness Pharmacy, was sentenced on July 24, 2023, in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, to 6 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution of $12,715,679, including $26,962 to Amtrak, for Health Care Fraud and Illegal Remunerations in Connection with Federal Health Care Programs.Alexander Semenik, a medical marketer based in Las Vegas, Nevada, was previously sentenced on May 9, 2023, in U.S. District Court, for the Central District of California, to 3 years in prison, 2 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay joint restitution of $1,721,644 for Illegal Remunerations in Connection with Federal Health Care Programs.Our investigation found that as part of the health care fraud scheme, beneficiaries were solicited to provide their insurance information to a pharmacist for medications they did not seek or need. Ezidore and other co-conspirators paid kickbacks to marketers who provided unnecessary prescriptions to Irvine Wellness. Semenik was paid kickbacks for patient referrals he made to fill unnecessary prescriptions at the pharmacy. 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. A codefendant in this case, Sandy Nguyen, was the pharmacist-in-charge of Irvine Wellness Pharmacy and was previously sentenced in this case.

An Amtrak Assistant Passenger Conductor based in Denver, Colorado, was terminated from employment on May 25, 2023, following his administrative hearing. The Denver Police Department requested our assistance in identifying an individual who was suspected of shoplifting items valued at $244 from a Whole Foods Market while wearing an Amtrak uniform. Our investigation resulted in the identification of the former employee and he, subsequently, pleaded guilty to and was convicted for shoplifting.

We investigated allegations that a retired USPP Sergeant violated ethics regulations by seeking employment with a company while overseeing its work.

Keith Kovaleski, a former Amtrak Assistant Foreman, based in New York, was sentenced to 10 months’ home confinement in U.S District Court, District of New Jersey, on July 12, 2023, for marketing and distributing over $3 million worth of misbranded and unapproved new drugs. On July 11, 2023, his spouse, Sylvia Kovaleski, was also sentenced for her involvement in the scheme to 3 years’ probation. The couple was ordered to forfeit over $3 million as restitution. They pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2022.

Five Ticket Accounting Clerks based in Massachusetts violated company policies by using their Smart ID badges to fraudulently swipe one another in and/or out of Amtrak’s time and attendance machines. Four employees admitted to the violations during their interviews with our agents, and we found a fifth employee also violated company policies by helping these employees engage in this misconduct. The five employees resigned in lieu of their disciplinary hearings and are ineligible for rehire.

We investigated allegations that a Bureau Director did not comply with ethics obligations. We did not substantiate these allegations.

On May 11, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General,Administrative Investigations Directorate initiated an investigation into potentially improperexpenditures made by Dr. Katherine A. Lemos. The purpose of theinvestigation was to determine whether Dr. Lemos (1) improperly used Board funds for travelfrom her residence in San Diego to her official duty station in Washington, D.C.; (2) exceededthe statutory cap on expenses for her office refurbishment; and (3) hired two senior aides on anoncompetitive basis.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General, Administrative Investigations Directorate initiated an investigation into potentially improper expenditures made by Dr. Katherine A. Lemos.