Reports

Department of Justice

Nigerian citizen charged with defrauding Washington State Employment Security Department of over $350,000

Seattle – A Nigerian citizen was arrested Friday evening at JFK Airport in New York on a criminal complaint charging him with wire fraud for his scheme to steal over $350,000 in unemployment benefits from the Washington State Employment Security Department, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

Department of Justice

Guilty Plea in First-In-The-Nation Cares Act fraud Case

PROVIDENCE - A Massachusetts man who faked suicide shortly after he and a co-defendant became the first in the nation to be charged with fraudulently seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in forgivable pandemic relief small business loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit bank fraud and failure to appear in court.

Department of the Treasury OIG

American Rescue Plan- Application of Lessons Learned From the Coronavirus Relief Fund

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Other | 5/17/2021

1-1 - Closed

Treasury management should finalize guidance concurrent with funds distribution in order to facilitate efficient administration of programs and minimize recipient confusion and misuse of funds.

2-1 - Closed

Treasury management should document its analysis of the applicability of grant requirements under 2 Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR) for each American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) program in its implementation plan as required by Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-21-20 (OMB M-21-20).

2-2 - Closed

Treasury management should apply the requirements of 2 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to Federal financial assistance funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) to the maximum extent authorized by law.

2-3 - Closed

Treasury management should require signed agreements documenting standard terms and conditions before disbursing American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) funds to recipients.

3-1 - Closed

Treasury management should conduct and document an information technology (IT) investment analysis as required by the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Memorandum M-21-20, and Circulars A-130 and A-11 before making the decision to implement the grants Quality Service Management Offices (QSMO) system, GrantSolutions, Salesforce, or another solution for the execution of American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) programs.

4-1 - Closed

Treasury management should develop performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) program funding in assisting with pandemic relief goals.

4-2 - Closed

Treasury management should include recipient reporting requirements in written agreements to facilitate this process and ensure that needed information is collected quarterly.

Department of Justice

Starkville Man Charged with more than $6 million in COVID-Relief Fraud, False Statements and Money Laundering

Department of Education OIG

Risk of Closed Institutions of Higher Education Receiving Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Grants

The purpose of this report is to share with the U.S. Department of Education (Department) observations made by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) concerning institutions of higher education (IHE) that ceased to provide educational instruction in all programs of study (closed) and received or had access to coronavirus response and relief aid through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). We found that 17 IHEs that closed on or before December 31, 2020, applied for and were awarded a total of $4,912,675 of HEERF grants by OPE. Of these 17 IHEs, 14 drew down HEERF funds and 3 did...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

North Carolina Office of the State Auditor

Oversight of Coronavirus Relief Funds: Office of State Budget and Management - Pandemic Recovery Office - Performance Audit May 2021

The purpose of this audit was to determine whether the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management’s (OSBM) North Carolina Pandemic Recovery Office (NCPRO) designed and implemented procedures to ensure that: (1) Coronavirus Relief Funds were being spent in accordance with the 2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act and subsequent amendments. (2) Programs that received Coronavirus Relief Funds were achieving their legislatively intended result.

Department of Justice

Malden Man Pleads Guilty to COVID-Relief Fraud and Identity Theft

BOSTON – A Malden man pleaded guilty today to identity fraud charges in connection with submitting fraudulent applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The federal PUA program provides unemployment-related benefits to individuals who have been impacted by COVID-19.

National Science Foundation OIG

Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – University of New Mexico

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 5/13/2021

Finding1Rec.1 - Closed

Resolve the $17,269 in questioned unreasonable per diem, airfare, and ground transportation costs for which UNM has not agreed to reimburse NSF and direct UNM to repay or otherwise remove the sustained questioned costs from its NSF awards.

Finding1Rec.2 - Closed

Direct UNM to strengthen its administrative and management procedures for reviewing travel expenses incurred on sponsored projects. Updated procedures could include periodic training for Principal Investigators to ensure they understand when NSF Grant Officer approval should be requested and how to appropriately document that only reasonable costs were charged to NSF awards.

Finding1Rec.3 - Closed

Direct UNM to strengthen its policies and procedures regarding the reasonableness of per diem expenses incurred when employees are temporarily relocated for a period longer than 30 days.

Finding2Rec.1 - Closed

Resolve the $3,613 in questioned tuition costs for which UNM has not agreed to reimburse NSF and direct UNM to repay or otherwise remove the sustained questioned costs from its NSF awards.

Finding2Rec.2 - Closed

Direct UNM to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $83 of questioned travel costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.

Finding2Rec.3 - Closed

Direct UNM to strengthen its controls surrounding the approval of expense reimbursements to ensure approvers appropriately verify that travelers are reimbursed at the appropriate U.S. General Services Administration per diem rate(s).

Finding2Rec.4 - Closed

Direct UNM to strengthen its policies and procedures surrounding the use of participant support cost funding to cover tuition remission expenses. Specifically, UNM should update its current tuition remission policies and procedures to ensure that it does not use participant support costs to cover costs associated with credit hours that do not benefit student participants.

Finding3Rec.1 - Closed

Direct UNM to update its award set-up practices to require that, when setting up accounts established for NSF awards, personnel ensure that the accounts apply indirect costs using the rates that were established in the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement in effect as of the date of the NSF grant award, rather than using the rates included within the original grant proposal.

Finding3Rec.2 - Closed

Direct UNM to require subawardees to apply indirect costs using the rates that were established in the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement in effect as of the date of the subaward agreement, rather than using the rates included within the subaward budget and proposal.

Oregon, City of Portland Auditor's Office

Prosper Portland Emergency Grants: Standards Needed to Ensure Program Integrity

Prosper Portland’s Small Business Relief Fund provided a lifeline during the early days of the pandemic. Staff successfully delivered dollars to struggling businesses but in haste, short-changed program integrity. We make recommendations for building a stronger program the next time disaster strikes.

New York, Ulster County Office of the Comptroller

Survey Results on the American Rescue Plan

The Comptroller’s Office surveyed Ulster residents on potential uses of the American Rescue Plan funds. The survey was promoted on social media from March 24 through May 3, 2021, and in electronic newsletters to the Comptroller’s Office distribution lists. Two hundred and twelve people responded. Respondents were provided with 14 potential options for the use of funds and asked to grade each on a score of 1 to 10.

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Reports

Nigerian citizen charged with defrauding Washington State Employment Security Department of over $350,000

Guilty Plea in First-In-The-Nation Cares Act fraud Case

American Rescue Plan- Application of Lessons Learned From the Coronavirus Relief Fund

Starkville Man Charged with more than $6 million in COVID-Relief Fraud, False Statements and Money Laundering

Risk of Closed Institutions of Higher Education Receiving Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Grants

Oversight of Coronavirus Relief Funds: Office of State Budget and Management - Pandemic Recovery Office - Performance Audit May 2021

Malden Man Pleads Guilty to COVID-Relief Fraud and Identity Theft

Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – University of New Mexico

Prosper Portland Emergency Grants: Standards Needed to Ensure Program Integrity

Survey Results on the American Rescue Plan

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