Investigative Reports

In September 2023, VA announced it had erroneously awarded millions of dollars in critical skill incentive (CSI) payments to senior executives at its central office. VA cancelled the payments, notified Congress, and requested the Office of Inspector General (OIG) review the matter.CSIs are a new recruitment and retention tool authorized by the PACT Act, which significantly expanded access to VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances. CSIs are meant for an employee who “possesses a high-demand skill or skill that is at a shortage,” to help VA meet a projected increase in staffing requirements. In total, VA awarded $10.8 million in CSIs to 182 senior executives (ranging from nearly $39,000 to over $100,000 each) in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) at VA’s central office.The OIG found the award of CSIs to nearly all VHA and VBA central office executives lacked adequate justification and was inconsistent with the PACT Act and VA policy. This was due, in part, to breakdowns in leadership and controls at multiple levels of VA, including• insufficient transparency from VHA regarding the scope and costs of its CSI plans for VACO senior executives; • excessive deference by VA’s Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness leaders to under secretaries and other senior leaders, despite concerns that they or their staff had about the incentives;• missed opportunities by the Office of General Counsel to detect legal issues with the CSIs before payment; and• failure to leverage VA’s existing governance processes to ensure proper risk management of the new CSI authority.VA concurred with the OIG’s two findings and eight recommendations and 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.

Ricarda Burrell, a former Customer Service Representative, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to one count of mail fraud and one count of theft of public money involving CARES Act Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) fraud. Burrell received the PUA while she was employed at Amtrak. The total fraud amount was $9,739. Sentencing has been scheduled for September 3, 2024.

An Amtrak Foreman based in Providence, Rhode Island, was terminated on May 7, 2024, after an administrative hearing for repeatedly going to his residence during his shift without permission to do so and without taking the appropriate leave. Instead, the foreman did so without swiping out on a time keeping machine, which resulted in his receipt of over $2,300 in pay for hours he did not work. The former employee is ineligible for rehire.

This document provides an update to our plan for oversight of the EPA’s implementation of the IIJA.We have divided this Year 3 oversight plan into three time-based sections that describe planned and ongoing IIJA-related audit and evaluation projects for FY 2024 and beyond. The first section includes planned and ongoing projects for Year 3 of our IIJA oversight, the second section details planned projects for Years 4–5, and a third section summarizes our planned approaches for oversight work expected in Year 6 and beyond. Each of the planned and ongoing projects summarized in this plan relates to the EPA’s IIJA implementation work; however, some projects identified in this oversight plan will receive partial support from annual appropriations.

Endo Health Solutions Inc. (EHSI) was ordered May 2, 2024, to pay $1.086 billion in criminal fines and an additional $450 million in criminal forfeiture—the second-largest set of criminal financial penalties ever levied against a pharmaceutical company—for violations of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), according to the U.S. Department of Justice.EHSI pleaded guilty April 18, 2024, to one misdemeanor count of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. In its plea, EHSI admitted that from April 2012 through May 2013, some of its sales representatives marketed Opana ER with INTAC (Opana ER) to prescribers by touting the drug’s purported abuse deterrence, tamper resistance, and/or crush resistance despite a lack of clinical data supporting those claims. In addition, approved labeling for Opana ER did not provide adequate information for healthcare providers to safely prescribe Opana ER for use as an opioid that is abuse deterrent. According to the plea agreement, EHSI was responsible for the misbranding of Opana ER by marketing the drug with a label that failed to include adequate directions for its claimed abuse deterrence, in violation of the FDCA. EHSI withdrew Opana ER from the market in 2017. The investigation, supported by our office, found that some Amtrak employees and dependents were prescribed the misbranded drug.

A former Alamo Navajo School Board member was sentenced for stealing Federal funds and receiving kickbacks for an IT services contract.

An Amtrak electrical journeyman based in Miami, Florida, resigned from his position on April 19, 2024, as a result of our investigation. We found that the former employee violated company policies by failing to disclose a felony criminal conviction on his background investigation questionnaire when he was hired in 2014. In addition, he violated company policies by failing to notify the company of his pending deportation order that resulted from his arrest for alien inadmissibility per the Immigration and Nationality Act and his ineligibility to legally work within the United States since 2019.

EAC OIG requested that the Department of Interior OIG investigation allegations that the Executive Director of the EAC improperly obtained a pay increase, failed to report annual leave on his time and attendance records, and expensed unapproved training courses.

An Amtrak customer service representative based in Miami, Florida, signed a civil settlement agreement on April 16, 2024, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida. The employee agreed to pay a total of $25,400 to the Small Business Administration (SBA), which includes damages, fees and a fine. Our investigation found that the employee submitted a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application to the SBA that included false statements and information. As a result, the employee received a PPP loan in the amount of $20,810 to which she was not entitled.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated allegations that a contractor submitted invoices under its Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with AmeriCorps that included unallowable and/or unsupported costs. AmeriCorps OIG’s investigation foundevidence that the contractor billed AmeriCorps $167,714.42 in unallowable charges in violation of acquisition regulations and policies, including, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 31.201-2(d) Determining allowability, FAR 5.503(c) Proof of advertising, and AmeriCorps Acquisition Policy5.1304(c) Invoice Certification, and the contractor lacked supporting documentation required by the BPA. In addition, the investigation found that the contractor both overbilled and underbilled AmeriCorps, the net of which favored the contractor.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated allegations that the former Executive Director (ED) of the Volunteer and Community Service Commission of Puerto Rico (Commission) attempted to use AmeriCorps funds to award a sole-source contract to a close friend, required prayers before AmeriCorps events, and requested subgrantees allow AmeriCorps members to perform service outside the scope of their grant. AmeriCorps OIG’s investigation confirmed the allegations regarding the sole-source contract and that the former ED required a prayer before the start of multiple AmeriCorps events. The investigation also found that the Commission was not reimbursing its subgrantees in a timely manner and that a former Commission Program Coordinator was improperly paid $2,825.

Jason Chan and Jamar Rogers, both California residents, were sentenced on April 8, 2024, and March 27, 2024, respectively, in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, for Wire Fraud and Aiding and Abetting. Chan was sentenced to 3 years’ probation and Rogers was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison followed by 3 years’ probation. The men were also ordered to pay a total of $43,518.32 in joint restitution.Our investigation found that Rogers purchased Amtrak tickets with stolen credit cards and exchanged the tickets for vouchers that he then advertised for sale. Chan purchased the vouchers from Rogers at a discounted rate, used them to buy new tickets, cancelled those tickets to obtain new vouchers, and then offered Amtrak tickets for sale at a discount. As a result of the scheme, Rogers and Chan caused Amtrak to issue approximately $38,000 in ticket vouchers and caused losses of over $45,000 to Amtrak, card-issuing banks, and card holders.