Investigative Reports

A Senior Engineer was arrested on March 8, 2021, for theft of Amtrak property and terminated from employment the following day. From approximately August 2016 through July 2020, the employee is alleged to have stolen approximately 77 chainsaws, approximately 103 chainsaw replacement bars, and approximately 163 replacement chains. He sold the majority of the Amtrak chainsaws and parts using an online auction service. The investigation is ongoing and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey.

OIG Investigations Newsletter Volume XXXII for the period of December 1, 2020 - January 31, 2021

This investigation was initiated based on a Postal Service employee's allegations of voter fraud in a video.

The OIG investigated allegations that a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) employee working at a refuge stole copper wiring and a bulldozer.We found that the employee removed copper from the former military facilities at the refuge and sold it for less than $5,000 during the last 10 years. We did not find evidence that the employee converted a Government-owned bulldozer for personal use or financial gain.We presented our interim findings to the FWS, and the employee was subsequently removed from Federal service. The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined prosecution.

We investigated allegations that a tribal non-profit organization misused $50,000 it received for a 3-day training conference. It received the funds from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) through a cooperative agreement.We did not find any evidence of misuse of funds or of false claims and determined the organization used the full amount of the cooperative agreement to cover costs associated with the training conference.

The OIG investigated allegations that an enrolled member of a Native American tribe paid bribes or kickbacks to an elected member of a tribal business committee in exchange for preference on tribal construction contracts.We did not substantiate the allegations. A financial analysis revealed no evidence to suggest the enrolled member received construction contracts awarded by the tribe or that he owned or operated a construction company. We also found no evidence that the enrolled member paid bribes or kickbacks to tribal officials.

A supervisor based at Sunnyside Yard in New York City was terminated on February 18, 2021, following an administrative hearing. The former employee violated company policies by fraudulently claiming and accepting payment for regular pay, overtime pay, or both during hours when he was not working. In addition, company rail pass records showed that his pass was in use on days when he also claimed work hours, indicating that either he claimed labor hours while he was on personal travel or that he allowed others to use his rail pass privileges.

The OIG investigated an allegation of a financial conflict of interest involving a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) employee and a family member. The complaint alleged that the USGS employee assigned to a USGS unit at a State university submitted and managed multiple research work orders (RWOs) from the USGS from which the family member was paid as a co-principal. (RWOs are funding agreements between USGS and a cooperating university.)We substantiated that the USGS employee’s actions on the RWOs and the requisition regarding the family member constituted a financial conflict of interest. The employee submitted proposals for USGS RWOs at the State university where he was assigned, listing the family member as an employee in various roles under the agreements, and did so, in part, to ensure the family member’s salary of over $187,000. The family member also assisted the employee with the proposals, including developing budgets for payments.The U.S. Attorney’s office filed a civil false claims suit against the employee in lieu of criminal prosecution. The employee agreed to a settlement, which required the employee to pay $50,000. The employee’s family member is now employed at the State university with a salary paid by Federal and State grants.

We investigated allegations of improper conduct and actions by a GS-15 National Park Service (NPS) employee toward another NPS employee.The NPS employee said she felt uncomfortable when the GS-15 employee placed his hand on her lower back on multiple occasions, made inappropriate comments, and reached for her cell phone when it was in her lap during a taxi ride. The NPS employee said she did not express her discomfort to the GS-15 employee until he reached for her cell phone. The GS-15 employee said he did not specifically recall placing his hand on the NPS employee’s lower back to guide her through a door, although he said he had done that with both men and women in the past. The GS-15 employee told us he could not recall taking the cell phone from the junior employee’s lap in the taxi but that he may have in order to check the time because they were running late.We determined that the GS-15 employee’s conduct violated U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and NPS policies on preventing and eliminating harassing conduct (Personnel Bulletin No. 18-01 and NPS Director’s Order 16E, respectively) in that it was unwelcome, was based on sex, and could reasonably be considered to have adversely affected the work environment.