Investigative Reports

SEC Investigative Summary 25-0015

William Leonard and Kevin Leonard, both California residents, pleaded guilty on May 15, 2024, in U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, to conspiracy and health care fraud charges. William and Kevin Leonard were patient brokers who unlawfully brokered patients to clinical treatment facilities owned and operated by Paragon Recovery LLC. In exchange, William and Kevin Leonard received kickbacks payments. The scheme resulted in the fraudulent billing of insurance companies for services that were not performed.Previously, Stephen Reeder, an Ohio resident, pleaded guilty on January 22, 2024, to Conspiracy related to a health care fraud scheme. Reeder was the program director at Paragon Recovery, which operated a clinical treatment facility in California. Our investigation found that Reeder and others conspired to solicit, offer, and receive illegal remunerations for referrals to clinical treatment facilities. Specifically, at the direction of the owners of Paragon Recovery, Reeder caused payment to be made to William and Kevin Leonard for patients they referred to the facility. Amtrak’s insurance providers were billed approximately $1,152,000 over the course of the scheme.

We found that a former DOI Deputy Secretary failed to monitor his investments or recuse himself from a matter in which he held financial interests.

Seventeen Amtrak employees based at New York Penn Station or the NW Base in New Jersey, consisting of two Gang Foremen, four linemen, three truck drivers, six 3rd Rail welders, one trackman, and one electronic technician resigned in connection with an OIG investigation of alleged healthcare fraud. Five of those who resigned were among 10 current and former employees charged by indictment June 20, 2024, with conspiracy to commit health care fraud.The resignations occurred between July 15 and September 12, 2024. Our investigation found that the employees participated in an $11 million health care fraud scheme beginning in 2019 and continuing to June 2022 involving health care providers and others who recruited Amtrak employees—primarily from New Jersey and New York—to participate in the scheme. The employees were given cash payments in exchange for allowing the health care providers to use their patient and insurance information to submit fraudulent claims to Amtrak’s health care plan for services that they never provided or that were medically unnecessary.

An Amtrak mechanical foreman based in Miami, Florida, signed a civil settlement agreement on September 10, 2024, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida. The employee agreed to pay $6,000 in restitution and a penalty of $2,325 related to the fraudulent application for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance. Our investigation found that the employee applied for an EIDL Advance for an alleged transportation business. We interviewed the employee and he admitted that his loan application was fraudulent, and the information contained in the application was not accurate. As a result, the employee received an EIDL Advance in the amount of $6,000 to which he was not entitled.

We found that an Area Foreman instructed platform operators to bypass safety systems before a pollution event.

An Amtrak carman based in Miami, Florida, signed a civil settlement agreement on September 3, 2024, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida. The employee was ordered to pay $10,717 in restitution and a $1,883 penalty. Our investigation found that the employee falsified applications for two pandemic relief loans. The first loan was an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) in the amount of $19,500. The loan was for an alleged agricultural business operated out of his home. The second loan was a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan in the amount of $8,217, which was for an alleged trucking business. We interviewed the employee and he admitted that the agricultural business did not exist, and that his trucking business did not have any revenue or any employees. As a result, the employee received funds to which he was not entitled.

An Amtrak train attendant based in Miami, Florida, signed a civil settlement agreement on September 2, 2024, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida. The employee was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution and a $2,500 penalty. Our investigation found that the employee submitted a false claim for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance of $10,000 for an alleged agriculture business, which operated out of his home. We interviewed the employee, who admitted he did not own an agricultural business and that his loan application contained false information. As a result, he received an EIDL loan advance in the amount of $10,000 to which he was not entitled.

We found that the Person in Charge failed to stop a pollution event, ordered platform operators to lie to BSEE inspectors, and falsified inspection logs.