Reports

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has appropriated over $3.5 trillion to address the public health and economic crises. Given the changing nature of the pandemic and the federal government’s response, we re-visited our original top management challenges to ensure that the PRAC is providing timely information to Congress and the new Administration about the response efforts. The following four challenges have been added: Preventing and Detecting Fraud against Government Programs; Informing and Protecting the Public from Pandemic-Related Fraud; Data...

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – An Arizona man pleaded guilty today to possession of multiple unemployment benefits debit cards — all in different names — and intending to fraudulently obtain nearly $223,000 in benefits to be paid to him, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada and Special Agent-in-Charge Quentin Heiden of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Los Angeles Region.

The primary objective of this report is to show Missouri's spending of federal assistance in the month of December 2020 for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency and the cumulative financial activity since the state began receiving funding in April 2020.

We conducted this audit to support transparent and accountable government operations during this unprecedented time. We focused our work on determining steps the county took to ensure that vital services could continue safely and equitably during the pandemic; whether those steps were in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities to reduce health risks; and what improvements can be made moving forward.

This audit attempts to answer the following question. What types of unemployment claims fraud schemes is the Kansas Department of Labor aware of and how are they being addressed?

With respect to the Education Stabilization Fund, the objectives of this audit were to (1) obtain an understanding of internal controls over compliance, assess control risk of noncompliance, and perform tests of those controls unless controls were deemed to be ineffective and (2) express an opinion on whether the State complied with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of federal awards that may have a direct and material effect on the Education Stabilization Fund. The State of Texas complied in all material respects with the federal requirements for the Education...

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the level of employment, the number of establishments and total wages in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector had each expanded significantly over the past decade, growing at a much faster rate than for all sectors citywide. In March 2020, the response to the public health crisis forced the entire sector to close. While some venues, such as outdoor botanical gardens, zoos, museums and gyms, have reopened at reduced capacity, many establishments remain closed because of the health risks associated with attendance at live events. Arts, entertainment and...

Since March 2020, Congress has passed various laws designed to curb the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate the pandemic’s damage to the nation’s economy. One of the key legislative provisions was the creation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), designed mainly to help small businesses and sole proprietors meet payroll commitments during the crisis. The program has been allocated a total of $953 billion in three rounds of funding in March ($349 billion), April ($320 billion), and December ($284 billion). This report evaluates the impact of the PPP in New York City measured against the...

The purpose of this report is solely to describe the scope of our testing of internal control and compliance and the results of that testing, and not to provide an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control or on compliance. This report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with Government Audit Standards in considering the entity’s internal control and compliance. Accordingly, this communication is not suitable for any other purpose.

This report provides the results of our evaluation of the use of telework among the state’s executive branch agencies during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The purpose of this audit was to provide information on the challenges the agencies experienced. We found most agencies did not have telework policies in place prior to the pandemic.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an inspection to assess allegations related to delayed medication delivery from the VA Manila Outpatient Clinic (clinic) pharmacy in Pasay City, Philippines, prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.The OIG substantiated a patient experienced medication delivery delays and did not timely receive morphine from the clinic pharmacy in October and November 2019. While the patient requested a renewal in a timely manner, pharmacists could not fill the medication because there was no available stock from the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA)...

Six individuals were charged in an indictment with fraudulently obtaining approximately $1.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans on behalf of five businesses based in Georgia and South Carolina.

A Nevada man was charged in an indictment Wednesday for his alleged participation in a scheme to defraud multiple financial institutions by filing bank loan applications that fraudulently sought more than $1.9 million dollars in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Tampa, Florida – Keith Nicoletta (48, Dade City) has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to launder stolen COVID relief funds. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Nicoletta also agreed to forfeit more than $1.9 million, a 2020 Mercedes, a 2020 Ford F-250, real property located in Pasco County, and other funds and assets that are traceable proceeds of the offense.

A Mississippi businessman was charged with defrauding the United States and other health care providers in a $1.8 million scheme related to acquiring and hoarding personal protective equipment (PPE) and price gouging health care providers, including numerous U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals in critical need of PPE.

Section 204, Public Act 67 of 2020, effective March 30, 2020, requires the Office of the Auditor General to audit the use of funds appropriate for coronavirus public health emergency – health care capacity coronavirus public health emergency, and coronavirus response fund and report to the chairs of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees at a minimum of every month on the appropriateness of the preceding month’s expenditures until the funds are expended. In order to provide a more complete picture of the total spending on COVID-19, our audit scope includes all COVID-19 coded...

The economic shutdowns in early 2020 led to historically high numbers of UI claims in a very short time (claim surge), and further shutdowns began in December 2020, raising the potential for additional spikes in unemployment. This audit reviewed EDD’s response to the claim surge, its handling of the resulting backlog of unpaid claims, and the assistance it has provided to individuals through its call center

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, decision makers across the world created policies to curb the spread of the disease. These policies influenced many aspects of society in an effort to reduce COVID-19 caseload and deaths and limit economic impacts. There is now a growing set of data capturing policies, the effects on the policy environment, and the ongoing impacts of the pandemic itself on different regions and populations, as measured by these different impacts. Together, these data provide a basis to better understand how and whether policies achieved their intended outcomes and...

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was enacted. It included $8 billion for direct payments to Indian Tribes and $522 million of direct appropriations to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) for COVID-19 response. Given this infusion of funding, we examined the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian detention system from April 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020, including the actions the BIA and the tribes have taken to respond to outbreaks of this virus, and how other longstanding challenges have affected the BIA’s response...

A Wisconsin pharmacist has agreed to plead guilty to charges filed today in federal court that he attempted to render hundreds of doses of COVID-19 vaccine ineffective.

A Santa Clarita Valley man pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge that he fraudulently obtained more than $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for his sham companies by submitting fake tax documents and fraudulent employee information.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is the primary Federal agency for improving health care to people who are geographically isolated and economically or medically vulnerable. HRSA should identify and mitigate risks related to awarding grants to health centers to minimize the potential misuse or loss of Federal funds. In spring 2020, HRSA awarded through three programs nearly $2 billion to approximately 1,380 health centers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To expedite distribution of this funding, HRSA did not require that health centers apply for grants. Instead, it made funds immediately available to health centers. Health centers had 30 days from the award release date to submit the information that is usually submitted, reviewed, and approved during the grant application process prior to a grantee receiving funding. We will determine whether HRSA had an effective process for identifying and monitoring high-risk health centers that received COVID-19 grants.

Seattle – An Issaquah, Washington man pleaded guilty today to perpetrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

A Washington man pleaded guilty today to perpetrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Seattle - A Redmond, Washington, man who held himself out as a biotech expert was arrested today on a federal warrant charging him with introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.

This letter report provides an update on our assessment of the State’s management of federal funds related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a high risk statewide issue.

Telehealth is playing an important role during the public health emergency (PHE), and CMS is exploring how telehealth services can be expanded beyond the PHE to provide care for Medicare beneficiaries. Because of telehealth's changing role, we will conduct a series of audits of Medicare Part B telehealth services in two phases. Phase one audits will focus on making an early assessment of whether services such as evaluation and management, opioid use order, end-stage renal disease, and psychotherapy (Work Plan number W-00-21-35801) meet Medicare requirements. Phase two audits will include additional audits of Medicare Part B telehealth services related to distant and originating site locations, virtual check-in services, electronic visits, remote patient monitoring, use of telehealth technology, and annual wellness visits to determine whether Medicare requirements are met.

President Trump declared a national emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to take proactive steps to support the response to COVID-19 through the use of section 1135 waivers. By means of this authority, CMS waived certain requirements in order to expand Medicare telehealth benefits to health care professionals who were previously ineligible, including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, and others. CMS also amended regulations to allow home health agencies to use telecommunications systems in conjunction with in-person visits. We will evaluate home health services provided by agencies during the COVID-19 public health emergency to determine which types of skilled services were furnished via telehealth, and whether those services were administered and billed in accordance with Medicare requirements. We will report as overpayments any services that were improperly billed. 
 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides qualifying individuals with a recovery rebate (economic impact payment) of up to $1,200 (or $2,400 if married and filing jointly), plus up to $500 for each qualifying child. Congress added a number of exemptions concerning the economic impact payments within the CARES Act; however, it did not exempt child support debt. According to estimates, up to 10.5 million noncustodial parents are delinquent in their payment of child support and could have their economic impact payments intercepted. Based on the significant impact that the CARES Act will have on the collection of delinquent child support due to the intercept of economic impact payments, we determined that the focus of our audit would be to determine whether selected State(s) have policies and procedures in place to ensure that State child support programs collected and distributed delinquent child support under the Federal Tax Refund Offset program.

A Texas man has been charged in the Eastern District of Texas with allegedly filing bank loan applications fraudulently seeking more than $5 million dollars in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

This report concludes that the five courts we reviewed for this audit—the superior courts in Alameda, Contra Costa, Lake, Orange, and San Bernardino counties—adhered to most of the required and recommended procurement and contracting practices that we evaluated, but they could improve in certain areas.

To read this report click here: https://pandemicoversight.gov/oversight/our-publications-reports/federa…

This report examines COVID-19 testing efforts for six federal health care programs during the first seven months following the declaration of a public health emergency in the United States. Published by the PRAC Health Care Subgroup, the report takes a detailed look at testing data in each of the programs that, when combined, provide benefits or care for about 64 million individuals. We hope this report will help policymakers as they continue to develop and refine their testing efforts related to testing accessibility and availability for at-risk populations, cost effectiveness, and...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the BIE.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of November 30, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $582,466,112...

To view a set of interactive dashboards with up-to-date data on COVID-19 cases in this facility, click here: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ab22fb4c564e4f4b986e257c685190…

To view a set of interactive dashboards with up-to-date data on COVID-19 cases in this facility, click here: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ab22fb4c564e4f4b986e257c685190…

This audit found that the District’s meal sponsors moved quickly to open Grab & Go meal sites in areas of greatest need, but that their efforts could have been supported better by stronger coordination mandated by District leadership. Specifically, we found that 96% of at-risk students had access to at least one meal site located in their home neighborhood cluster in the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic—later growing to 99% by June—but some neighborhoods with many at-risk students could have had better access to meals sooner.

Seattle — A respiratory therapist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Seattle was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three months in prison and nine months of home confinement for theft of government property, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.

We conducted this review to examine whether adequate policies, procedures, and controls were in place and followed to efficiently and effectively manage the administration and execution of the public Health Emergency Grant Program. We were also concerned that the speed with which the program was implemented may have resulted in errors that disadvantaged intended grant recipients.

Federal prosecutors have charged a Miami nurse with fraud and other crimes in a criminal complaint that accuses him of lying on coronavirus relief loan applications and fraudulently obtaining close to half a million dollars in relief money intended to help small businesses survive disasters like the current pandemic.

This memorandum provides the results of our evaluation of the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA’s) plan for the implementation of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act)1 funding. Our objective was to determine whether EDA implemented and followed the requirements of the CARES Act. Specifically, we determined (1) what steps EDA took in implementing the CARES Act, (2) challenges EDA faced during implementation, and (3) EDA’s ongoing efforts in awarding funds under the CARES Act. Overall, we found that EDA implemented and followed the requirements of the CARES Act...

To gain insight on the effects and impact of COVID-19 on law enforcement investigative operations, the DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) surveyed law enforcement personnel within the DOJ during July and early August of 2020. Specifically, the OIG deployed an anonymous online survey to Special Agents; Criminal Investigators; General Inspection, Investigation, Enforcement, and Compliance personnel; and U.S. Marshals and Deputy U.S. Marshals. Results from this survey are available at the following link: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/891259547d994573a314acf7927ac6…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Postal Service provided vital service, including the delivery of critical items such as medications, stimulus payments, and Social Security checks. Further, the Postal Service is the leading delivery service provider for online purchases. A May 2020 Harris Poll survey on America’s 100 essential companies’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, ranked the Postal Service as number one, based on its resolve, integrity, responsiveness, and permanence. Our objective was to evaluate mail service during the early stages of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease...

On 27 March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which provided emergency assistance and healthcare response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the Coronavirus disease. Section 3610 of the CARES Act provided agencies discretionary authority to reimburse costs of paid leave to federal contractors and subcontractors using existing appropriations to keep these individuals in a ready state and to protect the life and safety of government and contractor personnel. Given the unprecedented circumstances surrounding these Section 3610...

Since the surge in pandemic‑related California unemployment claims began in March 2020, individuals, news organizations, and law enforcement officials have reported many cases of potential and actual UI fraud. Not surprisingly, the pandemic conditions increased EDD’s UI workloads and also resulted in changes to federal UI benefit programs, both of which have created a greater risk of fraud.

The City of Sacramento will be subject to future audits of State and Federal funds, such as the Coronavirus Relief Fund or FEMA Public Assistance. These audits would likely be conducted by an Inspector General’s Office or the Government Accountability Office. The key to successfully withstanding any future audit will be the City’s ability to provide sufficient and appropriate documentation supporting the use of these funds.

We have audited, in accordance with the auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, the financial statements of the governmental activities, the business‐type activities, the aggregate discretely presented component units, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information of the State of Hawaii (the State) as of and for the year ended June 30, 2020, and the related notes to the financial statements, which...

Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) enacted on March 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) received $909.7 million to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The Office of the Secretary (OS) received $158.4 million of the DOI’s CARES Act funding and transferred funds to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Office of Inspector General (OIG), Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), and Office of Wildland Fire (OWF). As of November 30, 2020, 5.3 percent of the funding...

DHS OIG issued a series of three reports between August 2014 and October 2016 examining DHS’ pandemic activities, including 28 recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of DHS planning and response activities. We conducted this verification review to determine the adequacy and effectiveness of DHS’ corrective actions. We focused our review on 11 of 28 key recommendations that dealt with DHS-wide pandemic planning and response activities. We determined that DHS provided the OIG with adequate documentation of its initial plans and actions to address the recommendations to...

The primary objective of this report is to show Missouri's spending of federal assistance in the month of November 2020 for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency and the cumulative financial activity since the state began receiving funding in April 2020.

This review will assess VHA’s response, readiness, implementation, and outcomes with the administration of the COVID-19 vaccines to employees and veterans. 
 

The owners of over a dozen New York-area pharmacies were charged in an indictment unsealed today for their roles in a $30 million health care fraud and money laundering scheme, in which they exploited emergency codes and edits in the Medicare system that went into effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to submit fraudulent claims for expensive cancer drugs that were never provided, ordered, or authorized by medical professionals.

State management is responsible for designing, implementing and maintaining internal controls to ensure the financial statements are fairly presented, and to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and to prevent and detect fraud. We identified deficiencies in internal controls at the Employment Security Department (ESD) that adversely affected the State’s ability to prevent and detect fraud.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed the measures taken by the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) Homeless Program Office, medical facilities, and community service providers to mitigate COVID-19 risks in transitional housing programs for veterans experiencing homelessness.The OIG found that while transitional housing service providers successfully implemented four of six specific Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 risk mitigation measures, the providers could have strengthened implementation of two others.VHA and service provider staff said the Homeless...

TULSA, Okla. – Two men were charged this week after fraudulently applying for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of a California-based medical device company was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud investors by making false and misleading statements about the purported development of a new COVID-19 test, leading to millions of dollars in investor losses.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has seized “mordernatx.com” and “regeneronmedicals.com,” which purported to be the websites of actual biotechnology companies developing treatments for the COVID-19 virus, but instead appears to have been used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the sites, in order to use the information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks, and/or deployment of malware. Individuals visiting those sites now will see a message that the site has been seized by the federal government and be redirected to another...

BOSTON – A married couple was arrested last night in Texas on federal fraud charges arising from their claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funds. The defendants previously served jail time.

BOSTON – A Quincy man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with selling a lanyard that falsely claimed to protect against viruses.

The Single Audit Act of 1984, subsequent amendments, and corresponding regulations, require an annual audit of the financial statements and compliance with requirements applicable to major federal programs. Volume I contains financial reporting information based on our audit of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. It includes the APA’s opinion on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) in relation to the financial statements, the Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting and on Compliance and Other Matters Based on an Audit of Financial Statements Performed in...

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a review of the Veterans Health Administration’s response to anticipated demand and use of emergency department and urgent care center services when faced with the possibility of an influx of patients needing evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was deployed and 63 emergency department and urgent care center directors were interviewed.The OIG learned there was a decreased number of patient visits to the emergency departments (19.8 percent decline) and to the urgent care centers (28.6 percent decline) for January–June 2020 when...

Overall, we found that while OPH has processes to ensure data on the number of positive cases and deaths is not over-reported on its dashboard, laboratories did not always submit all COVID-19 test results to OPH, and the results they did provide were not always submitted in a timely manner.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began taking steps to keep employees and their families’ safe, while also ensuring the agency could fulfill its mission of service. Due to the ongoing pandemic and its impact on TVA’s workforce related to mandatory telework and staffing, we initiated an evaluation to assess TVA’s response to COVID-19. The objective of our evaluation was to assess TVA’s response to COVID-19. Our scope included actions taken by TVA related to staffing, employee safety...

A Riverside County woman pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for fraudulently obtaining more than $500,000 in COVID-related unemployment benefits for herself.

Accurate, complete, and appropriately detailed race and ethnicity data for Medicare beneficiaries are critical to identifying and mitigating health disparities. As racial and ethnic disparities have emerged among those impacted by COVID-19, the availability and quality of data on race and ethnicity has garnered greater attention and scrutiny. This study will describe the extent to which Medicare's race and ethnicity data for beneficiaries are complete and accurate. We will compare these data to data from other sources. We will also determine the extent to which the Medicare beneficiary race and ethnicity data align with Federal data standards.

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the BIE.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of October 31, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $566,168,083...

The objective of our inspection was to assess the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) plans and procedures for returning employees to the federal office in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, including what existing guidance the Department considered when developing its plans and procedures. We found that the Department generally incorporated available guidance, which was intended to provide for a safe and gradual return to federal offices, in its Workplace Reconstitution Transition Plan (Reconstitution Plan). However, we noted that the Department’s Reconstitution Plan does not...

The primary objective of this report is to show Missouri's spending of federal assistance in the month of October 2020 for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency and the cumulative financial activity since the state began receiving funding in April 2020.

This audit was conducted to determine whether adequate controls have been established to ensure compliance with purchasing requirements, including the appropriate use of emergency purchase exceptions.