Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) OIG

I am pleased to submit the Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG) Semiannual Report to the United States Congress for the six months ending March 31, 2021. One year ago, we were in the very early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when Amtrak’s ridership and revenue plunged to record lows...

Our objective for this report was to assess the extent to which the company is accurately and transparently using, accounting for, and reporting on funds it was provided through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021.We found that the company remained a good...

Sidney Cobos, Allan Lummer, Farshad Sassounian and Ashkan Kohanpour, medical marketers based in Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty in United States District Court, Central District of California, on April 9, 2021, to one count each of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax...

Ryan Kane, a resident of Pennsylvania, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, to time served, three years supervised release, and a $100 special assessment for his part in an Amtrak ticket fraud scheme. As part of his sentence, Kane was ordered to pay $124,544 in...

An Amtrak Customer Service Representative based in Kansas City, Missouri, resigned from employment on April 12, 2021, prior to his administrative hearing. Our investigation found that the former employee violated company policies by leaving his post between two and four hours at a time during his...

Our objective for this report was to assess the extent to which the company is incorporating its injury claims financial data into its Safety Management System (SMS).We found that the company has made significant progress implementing its SMS, and, as of December 2020, the company’s SMS aligns with...

A management official and a company Inspector violated Amtrak policies by accepting gifts and favors from a construction contractor who was awarded a $58 million contract by the company. The management official received gifts from the contractor, including three trips to Philadelphia, and drinks and...

Hootan Melamed, a pharmacist based in Los Angeles, California, was sentenced in United States District Court, Southern District of California, on March 29, 2021, to six months in prison and three years’ probation for conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Melamed was also ordered to forfeit $1,816...

Lauren Jones, a former Hertz employee in Chicago, Illinois, pleaded guilty in Circuit Court of Cook County on March 24, 2021, to felony theft charges and was sentenced to two years’ probation on the same date. Our investigation found that Jones stole validated parking passes for the Chicago Union...