OIG initiated an investigation after receiving allegations from a confidential source that two employees at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (FRSP) awarded Government contracts to contractors who were their friends and who sponsored the private business of one of the employees.
Our investigation found that one of the employees violated Federal regulations by using his Government position to steer heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) and carpentry work at the park to two contractors after they began sponsoring his private business. After the HVAC company began sponsoring the business in 2009, it received over $137,000 from FRSP in Government contracts, service calls, and purchases in which the employee had some involvement. During this same period, the company wrote $2,461 in checks directly to the employee in support of his business. After the carpentry company began sponsoring the business in 2010, it received over $200,000 in Government contracts and service calls. The company also wrote $1,400 in checks directly to the employee to support his events.
Our investigation further found that the second park employee created the appearance of preferential treatment and using his official position for private gain by hiring FRSP contractors, whom he acknowledged had become his friends, to do personal landscaping, fencing, and gas line work for himself and his family.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia declined prosecution.