Reports

OIG investigated allegations that an Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) employee stole government equipment and committed time and attendance fraud. We determined the employee stole two stereoscopes and a mapping tool from OSMRE and that the equipment was obsolete and valued at approximately $150. The employee admitted she had the items in her possession, and without authorization. She said she later donated the property to a charity. We did not substantiate the allegation of time and attendance fraud. The U.S.

The OIG investigated allegations that Richard Ruggiero, Chief of the Division of International Conservation (DIC), International Affairs, U.S.

OIG investigated allegations that a former attorney-advisor for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of the Solicitor (SOL), may have violated post-employment restrictions by representing a DOI employee in her Equal Employment Opportunity complaint against the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The former attorney-advisor made a counter allegation that she was the subject of harassment by the SOL. We found no evidence the former attorney-advisor was involved in matters during her tenure at DOI that would have prohibited her from representing her client.

The OIG and the FBI jointly investigated allegations that two employees stole school funds from the Shonto Preparatory School (SPS) in Arizona, which is funded by grants from the Bureau of Indian Education. The investigation determined that former SPS Business Manager Felicia Barlow stole $20,430.87 by fraudulently obtaining three SPS checks. Barlow pled guilty to one count in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1163, Embezzlement and theft from Indian tribal organizations, in U.S.

The BIE Is Not Ensuring That Background Checks at Indian Education Facilities Are Complete