Investigative Reports

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated an allegation that AmeriCorps members serving at the Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) in Burlington, VT, were directed to alter previously approved timesheets. The investigation foundevidence that CEDO’s AmeriCorps Program Director had directed five members to alter previously approved timesheets, including altering timesheets weeks after the end of their service terms in order to raise the hours served to meet the minimum threshold to earn Segal Education Awards.

We found that a former BOR employee violated Federal ethics laws by accepting gifts in the form of loans from a Government contractor.

We did not substantiate allegations that a DOI official did not comply with the ethics regulation regarding personal and business relationships.

An Amtrak Director based in Chicago, Illinois, was terminated from employment on July 3, 2024, following the issuance of our investigative report. Our investigation found that the employee, along with another former employee, violated company policies by surreptitiously transmitting confidential company information without authorization to do so. Specifically, the employee transmitted the information to a private rail advocacy organization, resulting in its publication in the press and jeopardizing the company’s relationship with its stakeholders.

Navanjun Grewal, a doctor based in Los Angeles, California, was sentenced on July 2, 2024, in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, for making a false statement and for obstructing a federal audit related to a health care fraud investigation. Grewal was sentenced to two years’ probation and was ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution.Our investigation found that Grewal knowingly and willfully submitted a fraudulent document to the Department of Defense in response to an audit request regarding prescriptions for compounded medications that had been submitted to TRICARE for reimbursement. Grewal created and submitted fraudulent patient files in response to the audit. Grewal was part of a large health care fraud scheme in which beneficiaries were solicited to provide their insurance information to a pharmacist for medication they did not seek or need. As a result of the scheme, Amtrak’s heath care plan was billed $32,489 of which $26,962 was paid, and Tricare, the U.S. military’s health care plan, paid $12,264,685 on the fraudulently submitted claims.

We found a BIE employee violated Federal ethics laws and regulations by owning and operating a personal business that received BIA contracts.

The Office of Investigations initiated an investigation in June 2021 based on concerns from the EPA Office of Wastewater Management that Grandview, Washington, acquired construction materials for a CWSRF project that may have been falsely advertised on a Canadian manufacturing company’s website as following AIS requirements. We determined that Grandview made every effort to comply with the AIS requirements; however, there is a question as to whether the Canadian company’s manhole products complied with AIS requirements. We identified a concern regarding the ambiguity of AIS requirements for PVC components being used in CWSRF projects.

An Amtrak foreman based in Chicago, Illinois, was terminated from employment on June 25, 2024, following an administrative hearing. Our investigation found that the employee violated company policies by falsely reporting in the company’s Work Management System that required safety inspections had been completed for the stairs on three Venture Cars in Chicago. As a result, these cars, which should have been taken out of service, were put into service the following morning. Once we determined the required safety inspections were not completed, we notified management, and the inspections of the cars were completed.

We found that a DOI employee violated Department policy and ethics standards by accessing records in a secure Government database.

We found that a former FWS employee misused their Government travel credit card for personal expenses totaling over $37,000.

Why We Did This ReportWe are alerting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the need to ensure that mobile devices for separating employees are properly preserved and timely accessible to the Office of Inspector General to prevent the loss of evidence and other relevant records. Summary The EPA OIG is conducting an administrative investigation of a senior official for alleged ethics violations. In 2024, we notified the EPA Office of Mission Support that the senior official intended to leave, or separate from, the Agency in 2024, and we requested that the OMS preserve the information on the senior official’s electronic devices. Upon the senior official’s separation 30 days later, the OMS received five electronic devices from the official but failed to retain the three mobile devices in a way that would allow us or the Agency to access the information stored on them. As a result, we have been unable to retrieve the information and any potential federal records on these devices that may be relevant to our investigation, including text messages, telephone contact lists, and other forms of messaging. We are concerned that this is not an isolated issue.

An AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigation found that AmeriCorps was inconsistent in how it handled allegations of misconduct by senior management and that AmeriCorps hired a third-party contractor to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement on the part of a senior manager without notifying OIG as required by AmeriCorps Policy 102.