Investigative Reports

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.

The OIG investigated allegations that tribal officials manipulated statistical reports they submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to influence the amount of Federal funding received by the tribe. We also investigated allegations that tribal officials distributed Federal grant funds to ineligible clients, and that they terminated a former employee for notifying the BIA of potential fraudulent activities.We did not substantiate any of the allegations. We confirmed with BIA officials that the statistical reports they received from the tribe were accurate and did not have any effect on Federal funding to the tribe.We did find that tribal officials spent Federal grant funds to pay for a local cultural workshop that included some ineligible participants, however the Tribe subsequently used non-Federal tribal funds to fully reimburse the grant for the cost of the entire workshop.We found the former employee who claimed retaliation was employed in a temporary position which had expired. The tribe did not extend the terms of the position because the employee failed to meet the requirements for the position, and because their services were no longer needed.

A ticket agent resigned on April 5, 2018, prior to an administrative hearing, for stealing money from a cash drawer at Amtrak’s Los Angeles Union Station. Our investigation determined that the employee would wait until train conductors electronically scanned passengers’ tickets and would then reset the ticket’s status as if it had not been scanned at all. This process of resetting the tickets’ status allowed the tickets to be refunded or exchanged. Subsequently, the employee processed the tickets for cash refunds, taking and keeping the money from the cash drawer.

The OIG investigated allegations that a National Park Service (NPS) employee falsified his Department of Defense Form 214 (DD Form 214), Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, and used the forged document to obtain employment with the Federal Government. The anonymous complainant also alleged that the employee offered to falsify another individual’s DD Form 214, to help that person obtain Federal Government employment.We found no evidence that the employee falsified his official DD Form 214, nor did we find evidence that he assisted anyone else in altering their military records. The employee’s discharge certificate on file with the Federal Government matched the certificate we obtained from his official military records.

The OIG investigated allegations that a lease operator may have submitted false Oil and Gas Operations Reports (OGOR) to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) to avoid paying plugging and abandonment costs for a well.We found that from May 2015 to January 2017 the lease operator did not submit actual production measurements as required, but instead estimated production for the well at one barrel per month in the OGORs he submitted to ONRR. We also found that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) determined that the well was not capable of producing minerals in paying quantities and issued the operator an order to address BLM’s determination.

The VA Office of Inspector General Administrative Investigations Division issued a report titled: Administrative Investigation of Conflict of Interest, Nepotism, and False Statements within the VA Office of General Counsel, Washington, DC.

Please click the link below to access a press release describing this and other related documents.

An employee in Perryville, Maryland, received a 10-day suspension March 27, 2018, after posting an image on social media that violated company policy. After receiving an anonymous complaint in October 2017, we found that the employee violated multiple company policies by posting an inappropriate image on Facebook.

An Amtrak Yard Engineer in Washington, D.C., resigned on March 20, 2018, in lieu of an administrative hearing after failing to report two prior criminal convictions in violation of various company policies.

The OIG investigated allegations of contract fraud and misuse of Federal funds related to a municipal boat access site renovation partially funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).We did not substantiate allegations of contract fraud or the misuse of Federal funds. The problems we identified appeared to be the result of poor project management and poor workmanship, rather than fraud. The municipality has initiated legal proceedings to resolve the problems with the contractor.

A Baggage Foreman in Newark, New Jersey, was terminated from employment March 21, 2018, and an Usher/Gateman in Wilmington, Delaware, received a three-day suspension on March 15, 2018, for violation of company policies related to shipping boxes on Amtrak trains. Our investigation determined the Baggage Foreman shipped five boxes on a train without collecting and remitting the shipping fees to the company.

A Carman Journeyman in Chicago, Illinois, was terminated from employment March 26, 2018, following an administrative hearing for stealing Amtrak property from trains in the Chicago Yard.

The OIG investigated allegations that a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) review of its own failures in oversight of a Federal grant was biased and that USBR or Office of the Solicitor employees made false statements during our initial investigation of the grant.We did not find any evidence that USBR’s review was biased or that employees made false statements.

OIG investigated allegations that offshore oil and gas company employees and contractors illegally discharged oil into the Gulf of Mexico.We determined offshore workers Luke Ball, Darryl Plaisance, and William Smith intentionally discharged oil into the Gulf while operating aboard a platform located on a Federal lease. All three individuals were criminally charged by a Federal grand jury in the Western District of Louisiana. Ball and Plaisance pled guilty to making a knowing discharge of a pollutant, and Smith pled guilty to making a negligent discharge of a pollutant into the Gulf. Ball served almost six months of incarceration followed by supervised release, and the remaining defendants were placed on probation and paid a criminal fine.

Two Customer Service Representatives were terminated from employment on March 20, 2018, and March 21, 2018, in Joliet, Illinois and Omaha, Nebraska, and two others are facing disciplinary action for the unauthorized release of passenger information. Our investigation determined the employees violated company policy when they accessed company computer systems to provide confidential passenger information to a law enforcement agency without prior approval from the company.

The OIG initiated an investigation after an inventory of a safe located in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Office of Law Enforcement and Security (OLES), found that thousands of dollars in gift cards were unaccounted for.We found 119 gift cards in the safe, valued at $2,345, and property receipts that indicated more than $10,000 in gift cards had been provided to a former OLES official and another BLM employee to use towards official purchases. We were unable to determine the disposition of the remaining gift cards because there was no documentation, and the former OLES official and the other BLM employees we interviewed did not recall how the gift cards were disposed of.

OIG investigated allegations that Joseph Dubois filed a fraudulent surety bond to secure a contract at the Pine Hill School, Ramah Chapter of the Navajo Nation, NM.We found that the Ramah Navajo School Board contracted Dubois to renovate a building at the Pine Hill School. The contracts required him to obtain and provide a surety bond, but instead Dubois produced a fictitious surety bond that falsely appeared to be under the authority of a legitimate surety company.Dubois pled guilty to passing fictitious obligations and to tax evasion in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $410,550 in restitution to the Ramah Navajo School Board and the Internal Revenue Service.

The OIG investigated approximately $1,600 in fraudulent charges that were made on several Government charge cards issued to a U.S. Geological Survey employee.We found no evidence that the employee made the fraudulent charges and we discovered that a friend of the employee may have been responsible. As a result, we closed our investigation and referred this matter to the local police department.

Please click the link below to access a press release describing this and other related documents.

The OIG investigated allegations that a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) senior official approved or directed the approval of two drawdowns totaling approximately $3.1 million from an Operation, Maintenance, and Replacement (OMR) Trust Fund designated for a regional rural water system (RWS) at a time when the RWS was years from completion and had few, if any, OMR expenses. There was increased scrutiny of the senior official’s involvement because he was affiliated with a group that would be served by the RWS.Our investigation determined that a subordinate of the senior official, not the senior official, authorized the drawdowns. The senior official had recused himself from the matter and had no involvement in either drawdown.We also found that the subordinate failed to perform required due diligence before approving the drawdowns. After questions arose following the first drawdown, the subordinate of the senior official was directed to consult with BIA’s Office of Facilities Management and Construction (OFMC) prior to any future drawdowns, however, he failed to consult with OFMC prior to the second drawdown. The subordinate acknowledged he failed to perform the required due diligence and retired from the BIA before the completion of our investigation.The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana declined prosecution.