Investigative Reports

An Amtrak electrician based in Chicago, Illinois, was terminated from employment on March 7, 2025, following an administrative hearing. Our investigation found that the former employee was arrested and charged with first degree murder and was on a medical leave of absence while incarcerated.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program funds community-based transitional housing for veterans experiencing homelessness. An OIG administrative investigation examined VHA’s oversight of the Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD), a GPD program grantee providing drug treatment and other services. 

The OIG found that staff at the VA San Diego Healthcare System (the VA facility) responsible for local oversight of VVSD were aware that in 2021 and through most of 2022, issues with drug sales by non-VA residents, drug use, and insufficient staffing increased risks to veterans co-located there. However, VA facility staff did not take timely or effective action to ensure VVSD remediated these issues. Local facility staff lacked important information related to residents at VVSD who were funded by non-VA entities. Also, a regional official responsible for GPD oversight did not provide adequate support. Finally, the OIG found that the GPD National Program Office could have provided clearer guidance on key issues, such as when certain grantee enforcement measures should be used and how to redress recurrent grant noncompliance issues.

The OIG followed up the initial investigation with a limited review of VHA oversight of VVSD through September 2024, prompted in part by reports that improvements may not have taken hold. The investigation revealed that issues related to veteran care and safety, and a lack of information about co-located non-VA residents, recurred or persisted at VVSD. 

VHA concurred with the OIG’s finding and five recommendations to improve governing policies, training, or other guidance, and appropriate follow-up for GPD-funded residents at VVSD who lost access to drug treatment services there. VHA provided acceptable action plans and completion timelines. The OIG will monitor VA’s progress until sufficient documentation has been received to close the recommendations as implemented.

A former executive of a Chicago-area non-profit organization has pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge for her role in misappropriating $1.8 million intended to support the charity’s work with underprivileged youth.

An Amtrak carman based in Miami, Florida, resigned from his position on March 2, 2025, while under investigation. Our investigation found that the former employee violated company policies by leaving work early so he could report to a second job as an airline mechanic at the Miami airport. The former employee is not eligible for rehire.

We substantiated allegations that management and staff of Panoche Water District conspired to illegally divert water from CA and BOR waterways.

Management Implication Report 24-0012-I, Resulting from Investigation into Alleged Theft of Passports at the Stennis Secure Production Facility (SSPF), Mississippi.

We found that a BLM State Office Director violated the Standards of Ethical Conduct, the Federal Travel Regulation, and DOI policy.

An Amtrak senior management official based in Chicago, Illinois, was terminated from employment on February 21, 2025, as a result of our investigation. We found that the employee violated company policies by participating in the hiring process for a newly created position that resulted in the employee selecting a close friend for the position. The employee’s participation in the hiring process, at a minimum, created the appearance of a conflict of interest. During the employee’s interview with our agents, the employee acknowledged that his/her actions could create the appearance of a conflict of interest or bias.

An Amtrak employee working remotely from Texas resigned during our investigation into allegations that she was also working full time for another company since March 2023 during the same hours of the day. The secondary employer cooperated with our investigation, confirmed her employment, and subsequently terminated her. The former employee is not eligible for rehire.

An Amtrak passenger conductor based in Sacramento, California, resigned from his position on February 5, 2025, while under investigation. Our investigation found that the former employee violated company policies by engaging in outside employment while on a personal leave of absence from Amtrak.

Kevin Leonard, a Tennessee resident, was sentenced on January 31, 2025, in U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, for health care fraud. Leonard was sentenced to 5 years of probation and ordered to forfeit $234,000. Leonard was a patient broker who unlawfully brokered patients to clinical treatment facilities owned and operated by Paragon Recovery LLC. In exchange, Leonard and others received kickback payments. The scheme resulted in the inflated fraudulent billing of insurance providers, including Amtrak’s.
 

In addition, Casimiro Bojorquez, a California resident, pleaded guilty on January 14, 2025, to conspiracy related to the health care fraud scheme. Our investigation found that Bojorquez and others conspired to solicit, offer, and receive illegal remunerations for referrals to clinical treatment facilities owned and operated by Paragon Recovery. Amtrak’s insurance providers were billed approximately $1,152,000 by facilities owned and operated by Paragon Recovery over the course of the scheme.

Bojorquez and two other codefendants will be sentenced at a future date.