Investigative Reports

The OIG investigated allegations that a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) project management specialist illegally diverted water from a BOR canal to a private ranch. Our investigation confirmed the project management specialist approved the water diversion, but we did not find evidence the project management specialist received any personal benefit, financial or otherwise, as a result. The project management specialist said they approved the water diversion because they were trying to solve the ranch owner’s concern that construction in the area had blocked flood-water overflow from coming onto the ranch owner’s property. The project management specialist further said they were concerned that the ranch owner would terminate an agreement that allowed the BOR to operate a pump station—which the BOR uses to protect endangered species in the area by pumping water to dry areas—on the ranch owner’s property because the terms of the agreement allowed the ranch owner to terminate the agreement if the ranch owner believed the BOR impeded any of their projects.We further found the project management specialist circumvented engineering and environmental approval by funding the project through an existing operations and maintenance contract instead of a new contract, which would have triggered the BOR’s review and approval process. The project management specialist said they believed the project was within the scope of work of the existing contract and did not seek approval before authorizing the water diversion.

The Office of Special Reviews investigated allegations that a GS-14 employee in VA’s Office of Information and Technology misused his government email by sending personal emails during work hours, and also took advantage of his telework arrangement to handle personal matters during his duty hours. The OIG could not substantiate the misuse of official time or improper use of VA resources because the employee routinely worked outside of his regular duty hours with his supervisor’s approval, and VA has not established criteria defining how much personal use of VA email is excessive. While investigating these issues, the OIG became aware that the employee had referred staff who were planning conferences for his group to his wife, a sales manager for a large hotel chain, and sent emails providing direction about the arrangements for these conferences. The staff subsequently booked rooms for these events at hotels for which the employee’s wife had sales responsibility. Although the staff made the decision and the arrangements were advantageous to VA, the OIG determined that the employee’s conduct appeared contrary to ethical rules prohibiting an employee from using his public office for “his own private gain, for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private gain of friends, relatives, or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity….” The OIG made one recommendation relating to a supervisory review of the employee’s conduct and consideration of appropriate administrative action, if any. VA concurred with this recommendation.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated a non-specific allegation that chief nurses within the Miami VA Health Care System (Miami HCS) violated the federal anti-nepotism statute by arranging to have their spouses hired for positions for which the spouses were not qualified. This allegation could not be substantiated. In addition, a specific allegation of nepotism was made pertaining to the conduct of a particular chief nurse. The OIG substantiated the allegation that the chief nurse violated the anti-nepotism statute by recommending the chief nurse’s spouse for a position at the Miami HCS. The chief nurse falls under the statutory definition of a public official and was prohibited from advocating for the employment by VA of the chief nurse’s spouse. The chief nurse was involved in two communications relating to the spouse’s possible employment at VA, one of which the OIG considered advocacy contrary to the federal anti-nepotism statute. The spouse withdrew his/her application without providing an explanation and was not hired by VA. The OIG made one recommendation relating to administrative action against the chief nurse if the Miami HCS Director deems it appropriate. VA concurred with the OIG’s finding and determined administrative action at this time is unwarranted. The OIG considers the recommendation closed.

An Amtrak Customer Service Representative in Reno, Nevada, was terminated from employment on July 20, 2020, following his administrative hearing. Our investigation found the employee stole funds from credit cards presented to him by Amtrak customers purchasing train travel. The cards, known as J-Pay Release cards, were pre- loaded with $200 in funds and were issued by the California Department of Corrections to inmates upon their release from custody. The former employee surreptitiously switched out fully-loaded J-Pay cards presented to him by those customers after debiting for the requested travel and returned completely depleted J-Pay cards instead. It is estimated that the former employee stole over $100,000 in stored value from the stolen J-Pay cards.

We investigated whether Wild Horse and Burro Program staff used Government charge cards to pay for expenses related to personally owned horses.

We did not substantiate the allegation that a Bureau of Indian Affairs official violated the ethics pledge or ethics regulations.

A former Carman/Welder in Beech Grove, Indiana, pleaded guilty in United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana, to theft of property on July 17, 2020. The former employee was sentenced to one-year probation, a $4,000 fine and ordered to pay $56,297 in restitution to Amtrak. Our investigation found the employee stole power tools and scrap metal from the company and sold it for his personal gain. The employee previously resigned from the company on April 28, 2017, immediately prior to his administrative hearing.

The OIG investigated an allegation that several minority-owned and small disadvantaged (8a) businesses may have coordinated their respective proposals to gain an unfair advantage in awards related to six contracts for technical support services at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).We found that these companies did not conspire to manipulate the bidding process as alleged. We found that the companies used the same consulting company to draft their respective proposals, which contained nearly identical language. The USGS ultimately did not accept any of the proposals.This is a summary of an investigative report we issued to the USGS Director.

Four Chicago-based employees were terminated from employment on June 18, July 6, and July 9, 2020, and another retired on June 25, 2020, prior to her administrative hearing. The five former employees participated in a medical fraud scheme in violation of company policies.Our investigation found that the former employees provided a chiropractor, based in Dolton, Illinois, with their medical and personally identifiable information, typically their names and dates of birth or those of their dependents, in exchange for cash kickbacks. The chiropractor used the information to fraudulently bill Amtrak’s health insurance plan for services that were not provided. In addition, all five employees were uncooperative or lied to our agents during their interviews.

John Mckoy previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, on June 14, 2019, to multiple health care fraud charges related to a scheme to defraud Amtrak’s health care plan. McKoy was the owner and operator of several neighborhood health carefacilities, 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 and was paid approximately $291,000 for services purportedly rendered to predominately Amtrak patients who were never seen or treated for those services. On July 8, 2020, McKoy was sentenced to six months imprisonment, three years’ supervised probation, and ordered to pay restitution to Amtrak in the amount of $291,255.In addition to Amtrak OIG, this joint investigation was conducted with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Labor OIG, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Five individuals who worked for Empire Care Dental at various California locations, including one dentist, one dental hygienist, and three office managers pleaded guilty to Health Insurance Fraud and to Practicing Dentistry Without a License. Our investigation disclosed that representatives of Empire Care Dental offered $50 - $100 payments to Amtrak employees if they used their services. In addition, our investigation found that Empire Care Dental submitted false claims for procedures more expensive than the ones performed and that the dentist practiced dentistry without a license. The five individuals were sentenced to 2-3 months in prison and ordered to pay joint restitution in the amount of $62,836.

OIG reviewed the proposed Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection rule to determine whether FSIS’ worker safety analysis complied with applicable rulemaking requirements.