Impact Magazine June 2011 - Office of Inspector General - U.S. ...

OIG OPERATIONS
OIG Investgators Recognized by DOT Secretary for Fraud Eforts
On November 4, 2010, two OIG investigators received Secretary Awards at DOT headquarters in Washington, DC, for their
efforts in combating fraud.
Senior Special Agent Michael Purcell of Region
2 (King of Prussia, Pennsylvania), was awarded the Secretarial
Award for Excellence. During 2010, Purcell helped secure signifcant
convictions on a $136 million fraud scheme, which, according
to a Department of Justice press release, was the largest
uncovered DBE grant fraud scheme on record. The case, which
involved a DBE pass-through scheme, has resulted in fve
indictments and three guilty pleas. In addition, Purcell’s work
helped secure indictments related to a sophisticated Government
document fraud ring involving alleged bribes paid to
PennDOT offcials, and a conviction on another grant fraud
case involving falsifed payrolls on a $5.2 million highway
construction project. His work also greatly contributed to the
debarment of four contractors.
Senior Investigator George Sullivan of Region
5 (Chicago) received the Secretarial Award for Meritorious
Achievement. An expert in DBE laws and regulations, Sullivan
is a much sought after speaker on the subject. When the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was signed
into law in February 2009, he embarked on a mission to use his
proactive techniques to focus on those contracts and grants in
several midwestern states funded by DOT with stimulus funds.
After developing a proactive investigation into Illinois Department
of Transportation (IDOT) projects worth a combined value
of $40 million, he determined that DBE irregularities existed, and
administrative action was taken to disallow the DBE credit. After
these irregularities were discovered, IDOT’s Offce of Quality
Assurance requested that Sullivan train the State’s inspectors on
his approach to fraud detection. He was also involved in another
proactive investigation involving an ARRA-funded Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) rail project worth over $56 million, which was
fully funded by FTA. The proactive review discovered that over $16 million in DBE credit goals were not being met. CTA also took
administrative action based on these fndings.
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