Investigative Reports

The OIG investigated SRC Energy’s self-reported disclosure that it drilled wells through a railroad right-of-way without obtaining a Federal lease or permit to drill. SRC, an oil and gas company based in Colorado, reported its activities to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which referred the matter to our office for investigation.We determined that in 2014, SRC committed mineral trespass violations when it knowingly drilled two horizontal wells in Colorado and produced Federal minerals without a properly executed mineral lease, resulting in a loss of public revenue. On April 2, 2019, SRC signed a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, agreeing to pay $723,236 to resolve the mineral trespass allegations.

An Amtrak Electrician in Providence, Rhode Island, resigned from employment on July 10, 2019, following our investigation, which revealed the employee violated company policies by engaging in outside employment multiple times per week for several months in 2016 and 2017 and that, in early 2019, the employee left his work-site to preview another potential side job. During an interview, the employee admitted to leaving the Amtrak job site and performing electrical work for a side job during his shifts and on company time. The employee resigned from Amtrak prior to his disciplinary hearing.

An Amtrak Trainer was terminated from employment on May 7, 2019, and an Amtrak Foreman was terminated on May 17, 2019, after our investigation determined both employees violated company policy. We found that the Chicago-based employees falsified company training records for required safety-related tasks on passenger equipment. The Trainer and the Foreman both signed the training rosters attesting that the Foreman participated in the training classes when, in fact, the Foreman did not attend the training.

The DOL-OIG Investigations Newsletter contains a bimonthly summary of selected investigative accomplishments.

An Amtrak employee in Chicago, Illinois, resigned from employment on July 5, 2019, following our investigation, which revealed the employee violated company policies by engaging in outside employment while taking leave from the company under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). During an interview, the employee admitted that he worked at his private business while on FMLA leave. The employee resigned from Amtrak prior to his disciplinary hearing.

An Amtrak Program Manager based in Washington D.C. was terminated July 1, 2019, for allowing a family member to use her company travel pass and Amtrak identification card to frequently travel on Amtrak trains between May 2018 and June 2019. The company’s travel pass policy allows Amtrak employees to ride Amtrak regional and Acela trains for free or at a discounted rate. While this privilege is also extended to the Amtrak employee’s spouse or dependents, Amtrak employees are not permitted to provide their employee travel pass for use by any other person. Judicial proceedings are pending.

An Amtrak Customer Service Representative in Salinas, California, was terminated from employment on April 5, 2019, following an administrative hearing for violating company policies. Our investigation found that the Customer Service Representative manually adjusted ticket prices for the benefit and financial gain of family members and then lied to his supervisor when questioned about it.

John Mckoy pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, on June 14, 2019, to multiple health care fraud charges related to involvement in a scheme to defraud a health care benefit plan, which provided coverage to Amtrak employees and their dependents. McKoy was the owner and operator of several neighborhood health care facilities, including Mt. Pleasant Medical Management, Inc. and Harris Medical Management, Inc. Between November 2004 and October 2007, McKoy submitted, and caused to be submitted, hundreds of false and fraudulent claims to United Health Care Corporation totaling more than $321,000 for services purportedly rendered to predominately Amtrak patients who were never seen or treated for those services. McKoy’s fraud caused Amtrak a loss of approximately $291,000.This joint investigation was conducted with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Labor OIG and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The OIG investigated allegations that a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Office of Law Enforcement and Security supervisor misused U.S. Government equipment and employee time in support of his personal business. It was also alleged that the supervisor made a wasteful purchase of a $3,250 mountain bike, misused a Government-owned vehicle and other Government-owned equipment for personal use, and inappropriately assigned himself to fire assignments where he earned overtime.We determined that the supervisor violated U.S. Department of the Interior policy on the use of Government property and 5 C.F.R. 2635.704, “Use of Government Property,” when he used Government equipment and employee time to support his personal business. We also found that the mountain bike purchase, although authorized, was wasteful. We determined that the supervisor had not misused a Government-owned vehicle for personal use, nor had he inappropriately assigned himself fire assignments.

We investigated an allegation that an official at the Southern Campaign Parks Group (SOCA), National Park Service (NPS), an artist, and a park friends group conspired to set up the purchase of one of the artist’s paintings via a 2015 transaction with the friends group so that the artist could avoid a Federal tax garnishment. We also investigated the timing of the art purchase that seemed to coincide with a funding increase in the cooperative agreement between the friends group and Kings Mountain National Military Park (KIMO), a park within SOCA.We found that the SOCA official directed the NPS’ acquisition of a $39,000 painting by the artist in 2015 and structured the purchase using the friends’ group as a broker for the sale even though the friends’ group did not own the painting. This structure allowed the artist, the painting’s true owner, to avoid a Federal tax garnishment that would have been imposed on him had he sold the painting directly to the NPS. The SOCA official admitted to coordinating the transaction with both the artist and the friends group, which included dictating that the friends group receive a $4,000 fee for its role in the transaction.In addition, we found that NPS contracting officials and KIMO staff did not follow Federal regulations and U.S. Department of the Interior procurement policies during the acquisition of the painting; specifically, the NPS and KIMO should have purchased the painting through a competitive bidding process rather than using sole source procedures.We also found that KIMO increased the annual funding to the friends group’s cooperative agreement by $25,000 around the same time the SOCA official began coordinating the purchase of the painting, but we found no direct connection between the friends group’s role in acquiring the painting and the increase in funding. We did find, however, that KIMO staff improperly extended the period of performance of the cooperative agreement without authorization from contracting officials.The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina declined prosecution. We provided this report to the NPS Deputy Director Exercising the Authority of Director.