Investigative Reports

We investigated allegations that U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) or National Park Service (NPS) officials may have improperly influenced two hiring actions. The first hiring action resulted in the promotion of an NPS employee from a GS-9 to a GS-11 supervisory position in 2018, and the second action resulted in the promotion of the same employee to a GS-12 supervisory position in 2020. We also investigated an allegation that an NPS official who was related to the employee may have influenced both hiring actions.We did not find evidence substantiating the allegations of impropriety related to the 2018 hiring action. We also did not find evidence substantiating the allegation that the employee’s relative influenced either hiring action. Further, we did not find evidence that any other DOI or NPS management officials improperly influenced the promotion of the employee or that management instructed the human resources (HR) officials to grant an advantage to the employee. We did not investigate the employee’s actual eligibility or qualifications for a promotion.We did find, however, that NPS HR officials involved in the 2020 hiring action intentionally recommended a hiring process that granted an improper preference or advantage to the employee in violation of 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(6) and that the HR officials’ actions did not follow merit system principles and the NPS Merit Promotion Plan. Specifically, HR officials advertised the position competitively but intentionally restricted it in a way that granted an advantage to the employee because doing so was perceived as easier and faster than promoting the employee noncompetitively based on an accretion-of-duties promotion, which was themethod that NPS management originally proposed.

A Senior Engineer was terminated on February 5, 2021, for violating company policies by downloading and viewing pornographic material from various websites and viewing videos that were stored on a USB storage device connected to his company-owned computer. In addition, the employee repeatedly used this computer for personal shopping, communicating via a personal email account, streaming sporting events, and other activities that were not work-related—both during the workday and in the evening outside of work hours.

The OIG investigated allegations that two Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials inappropriately released BLM records without going through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) review process. The complaint also separately alleged that certain other BLM records could not be found and appeared to have been destroyed.We did not substantiate the allegations. We found that the records the BLM released were public and did not require a FOIA review. Moreover, following our request to the BLM for the allegedly missing records, BLM officials located and provided us copies of all relevant documents. Accordingly, we found no support for the claim that documents had been improperly destroyed.

The OIG investigated allegations that a GS-12 employee with the Office of the Secretary misused his Government purchase card to buy computers without authorization, made other improper purchases with his Government purchase card, and filed false time and attendance certifications.We did not find evidence that the employee made improper purchases or converted Government equipment to personal use, but we did find that he failed to properly record his time and attendance. We questioned 74 hours that the employee claimed as regular time when it appears he should have taken annual or sick leave.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an administrative investigation in response to a referral from VA officials about the potential for a conflict of interest involving VA employees’ establishment of a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) between VA and a private company in 2016. The CRADA contemplated VA sharing with the private company the health data of all veterans who had ever received health care from VA. The CRADA was canceled prior to the release of any health data. The OIG did not substantiate the existence of any conflict of interest; however, investigators found that two VA employees involved in creating the CRADA made false representations to and concealed material information from VA’s approving official for the agreement. Before the CRADA was executed, VA privacy experts informed the two VA employees that the terms of the proposed CRADA raised regulatory concerns that needed to be addressed before approval. Despite the privacy experts’ objections, the two VA employees intentionally failed to disclose the unresolved privacy issues to the approving official. They also falsely represented that all reviews, including privacy, information security, and legal, had been completed—implying that any identified issues had been addressed and resolved. The OIG concluded that the approving official relied on the information received from the two VA employees and was led to approve the CRADA under false pretenses. As a result of the two VA employees’ actions, the health data of tens of millions of veterans would have been placed at risk of disclosure if VA officials had not detected a problem and cancelled the CRADA before information was shared with the private company. The matter was declined for prosecution. The OIG made two recommendations related to determining what administrative action, if any, VA should take with respect to the two employees’ conduct.

Two Amtrak coach cleaners based in Sanford, Florida, resigned from the company on January 21, 2021, prior to their administrative hearings. Our investigation found the former employees violated company policy by engaging in outside employment and other activities, such as traveling on a personal vacation, which interfered with their job duties and responsibilities, and they improperly used Family Medical Leave Act leave or sick leave to do so.

The OIG investigated allegations that a tribal wildland fire employee submitted false overtime claims in 2018.We found insufficient evidence to prove or disprove the allegation. The wildland fire employee denied the allegations and said any overtime claimed was fire related, and we did not find any evidence to refute this statement. The wildland fire employee’s supervisor signed and approved all the employee’s timesheets.

Marc Hoang, a Pharmacist based in West Covina, California, pleaded guilty in United States District Court, Central District of California, on October 26, 2020, to making a false statement related to a health care fraud investigation. 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.In this same investigation, Navanjun Grewal, a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon based in Beverly Hills, California, pleaded guilty in United States District Court, Central District of California, on January 13, 2021, to making and using a false document and to obstruction of a federal audit. Our investigation found that Grewal created false and fraudulent patient files in response to an audit request regarding prescriptions for compounded medications that were submitted for reimbursement.Both defendants will be sentenced at a future date.