Investigative Reports

The OIG investigated allegations that a National Park Service (NPS) superintendent mismanaged donated funds by depositing them into his personal checking account.We found that the superintendent violated Federal law and NPS policy when he deposited $500 donated yearly to the park into his personal checking account as a means to manage the funds. At the time of the deposits, the superintendent was not aware that he was prohibited from doing so. We did not find any evidence that the superintendent misused any of the donated funds.

The OIG investigated allegations that National Park Service (NPS) Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith made an obscene gesture and used vulgar language while standing in the hallway of the NPS headquarters in Washington, DC. Smith and another NPS employee recalled Smith telling a story while they were standing in the hallway together, but they denied that Smith touched himself obscenely or used any vulgar language. Smith acknowledged he gestured with his hands to simulate urinating while telling a story and stated that in hindsight the story and the gesture were not appropriate for work. The other employee said he was not offended by the story or the gesture but also acknowledged that they were inappropriate for the workplace. We found no other witnesses to the incident.

The OIG investigated allegations that between 2013 and 2017, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) employee wrongfully purchased approximately $6,000 worth of office and printer supplies with a Government purchase card. We also investigated whether the employee’s supervisor failed to review and monitor the purchase card transactions.We found that the employee made unauthorized purchases of supplies and used them for printing that was outside the scope of her assigned duties and unauthorized by her supervisors. The printing included FWS related news articles and birthday cards for coworkers. We did not find any personal gain by the employee from the unauthorized purchases.We also found that the employee’s current supervisor reviewed the purchase card transactions as required. The current supervisor had only recently been promoted, however, and was not the required reviewer until 2016. The current supervisor also asked repeatedly for the purchase card statements from the employee, who acknowledged she had fallen behind in providing the statements to her supervisor.We referred this case to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming, which declined to prosecute.This is a summary of an investigative report that was issued to the Acting Director, FWS.

An Amtrak Track Supervisor in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, was terminated from employment following an administrative hearing on May 24, 2018, for theft related to time and attendance fraud.

We investigated allegations that a former National Park Service (NPS) senior official at Acadia National Park (ACAD), Bar Harbor, ME, violated Federal criminal laws prior to his retirement and through his post-employment work with a nonprofit organization that receives Federal funds through a cooperative agreement with the park. We also investigated an allegation that the senior official participated in improper fundraising activities during a retirement dinner sponsored for him by the nonprofit organization.We found that the subject of our investigation, while still an NPS senior official, illegally accepted $14,771 in gifts from the nonprofit organization and its board members. We also found that he negotiated for employment with the organization while he was a Government employee and while participating in matters that affected the organization, a violation of Federal criminal law. He further violated Federal criminal law when he communicated with the Government on behalf of the organization following his retirement regarding particular matters that he had worked on while an NPS senior official.We found that the former senior official’s participation in the retirement dinner did not violate Federal fundraising rules. While at the dinner, however, he violated ethics regulations by accepting gifts from outside sources.We presented our findings to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine and the Department of Justice, Public Integrity Section, which declined prosecution.We are providing this report to the NPS Deputy Director for any action deemed appropriate.

The OIG investigated an allegation that a senior official with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was involved in a conflict of interest when she directed her staff to hire a private consultant who was her friend. We found that the official violated Federal ethics regulations when she directed her staff to pay $2,400 to a private consultant with whom she had both a professional and personal relationship. In return for the payment, the consultant provided three written work products to BLM.

The OIG investigated allegations that two Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) employees sold stolen BIA equipment to a contractor, and that another BIA employee provided sensitive procurement information to a contractor in exchange for kickbacks.We found no evidence to support either allegation. Regarding the first allegation, the BIA facility did not have a tracking system in place during the time of the alleged theft, so we could not determine whether BIA owned the property alleged to have been stolen. The BIA employees and the contractor denied the theft and a search of the contractor’s premises did not identify any Government property. Since the time of the alleged theft, the BIA facility has updated its property management system. Regarding the second allegation, both the BIA employee and the contractor denied the allegation of collusion and kickbacks, and we did not locate any witnesses or records to corroborate the allegation.

The OIG investigated allegations that U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) employees improperly awarded a sole-source security services contract at a dam, received kickbacks for rigging the contract bidding process, and approved inflated invoices.Our investigation found no evidence that USBR employees improperly awarded the contract or received kickbacks for rigging the contract bidding process.We referred the allegations of inflated invoices to our Office of Audits, Inspections, and Evaluations, which audited the contract for compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The findings of that audit will be issued in a separate report.

ABSG Consulting, Inc., has agreed to pay the United States $650,000 to resolve an allegation that it knowingly submitted false claims to Amtrak in the award of a $1 million training contract. The allegation arose because Amtrak was not notified that ABSG Consulting’s program manager for the contract had a close personal and financial relationship with the senior Amtrak Police Department (APD) official who approved ABSG Consulting’s selection as the winning bidder and oversaw implementation of the training program.

The OIG investigated an allegation that a DOI grant official had a conflict of interest because she owned a consulting company that assisted people in obtaining grants.We found no evidence of a conflict of interest. The official’s consulting company had no revenue, clients, or employees; the official only intended to consult on non-Federal grants; and the official disclosed her company on her required annual financial disclosure form.

The OIG investigated allegations that Sanco Operating/Sanders Oil and Gas (Sanco) failed to report gas production and underreported gas sales from a Federal mineral lease, which resulted in a loss of royalties owed to the Government. We conducted a joint investigation with the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Special Investigations Group and found that Sanco stopped paying Federal royalties to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) in 2010 and failed to report gas production from August 2010 through December 2016. In February 2018, Sanco agreed to settle this matter and entered into an agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado, in the amount of $130,752 for unpaid royalties.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General’s Investigations Newsletter highlights selected investigative accomplishments of our office for the period from February 1 to March 31, 2018.

We identified a potential conflict of interest issue involving a former member of the Amtrak Board of Directors who had previously been a management official at another company within the transportation industry. Specifically, Amtrak and this company developed a partnership agreement while the former Board member was still actively serving on the Amtrak Board. Our review sought to determine whether the agreement complied with applicable ethics standards.We determined that the Board member did not violate any applicable laws in this matter, and we did not find evidence that the member directly benefited from the partnership agreement. However, our review found the Board was not well-served by the company’s processes designed to identify and mitigate potential conflicts of interest.

The OIG investigated allegations that a former Government employee of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) violated Federal post-employment restrictions by communicating with current NIGC employees regarding a management agreement that the Government employee was involved in while working for NIGC.We did not substantiate the allegation against the former Government employee. We found that the employee was not substantially involved in the management agreement while working as a Government employee, therefore the contact with NIGC employees was not a violation of Federal post-employment restrictions.

The OIG investigated allegations that employees of Energy Resource Technology, Inc. (ERT) falsified Blowout Preventer (BOP) pressure test charts and engaged in unsafe welding operations while conducting oil and gas activities aboard an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico.We found that the ERT manager on the platform, Race Addington, concealed a failed pressure test from Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) officials and directed offshore worker Kenneth Johns and another ERT employee to fabricate a false BOP pressure test chart. We also found that an ERT supervisor on the platform directed that welding operations be performed near an active and flowing well, which violated BSEE safety regulations.Addington, Johns, and ERT were criminally charged for their actions by the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana. Addington pled guilty to two counts of false statements and was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and 40 hours of community service. Johns pled guilty to one count of false statements and was sentenced to 24 months of probation and fined $750. ERT was sentenced to 36 months of probation, fined $4 million, and ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution.

Three employees were terminated from employment on April 25, 2018, for violating company policy by using improperly obtained parking passes to avoid paying parking fees at Chicago Union Station and for not fully cooperating with OIG agents.

PHILADELPHIA – A former Amtrak employee pleaded guilty to one count of federal program bribery April 19, 2018, in U.S. District Court.According to court documents, Timothy Miller—a former Lead Contract Administrator with Amtrak responsible for procuring equipment and services and managing the account for diesel and locomotive seat-cushion vendors—steered four fleet maintenance contracts worth more than $7.6 million to a single vendor in exchange for approximately $20,000 in bribes, trips, and other items of value.