Press Release
VA Office of Inspector General Releases Administrative Investigation Report Concerning John Thomas Burch, Jr.
VA employee used position for private gain and misused government resources connected to outside employment with veterans’ charity.
Press Release
VA Office of Inspector General Releases Phoenix Consult Mismanagement Report
OIG review finds that the Phoenix VA Health Care System inappropriately discontinued consults for some patients in 2015.
Press Release
Iowa Woman Sentenced for Mortgage Fraud
Iowa woman sentenced to 18 months in prison for falsifying mortgage loan paperwork to receive a VA home loan.
Press Release
Bossier City Woman Sentenced to 12 months in Prison for Stealing More than $90,000 in VA Benefits
Louisiana woman sentenced to 12 months in prison for fraudulently taking $90,000 in VA benefits that payable to her deceased mother.
Press Release
Pharmaceutical Executives Charged in Racketeering Scheme
Seven people arrested in conspiracy scheme to bribe doctors using kickbacks to inflate drug sales.
Press Release
Palm Beach County Man Sentenced to 150 Months’ Imprisonment for Role in Bonding Fraud Scheme
Florida man sentenced to twelve-and-a-half years in prison for defrauding federal agencies by issuing worthless bonds to insure construction contracts.
Oversight Report
Review of Alleged Wasted Funds at Consolidated Patient Account Centers for Windows Enterprise Licenses
In November 2015, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) received an allegation that employees at Consolidated Patient Account Centers (CPACs) were required to use two Windows enterprise licenses when thin clients were converted to computers. According to the complaint, CPACs operated within a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment that required CPAC employees to log onto a virtual machine that had its own Windows enterprise license to perform their work related functions. Allegedly, employees were using computers that required Windows enterprise licenses only as a gateway to access a virtual machine that also required a license. The complaint further alleged that the Windows enterprise licenses on the computers were not necessary because the computers were being underutilized. We substantiated the allegation that VA’s Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) wasted VA funds at CPACs to purchase underutilized computers that also required Windows enterprise licenses to operate. Specifically, CPAC employees used these computers only as gateways to access virtual machines on the network server that had individual Windows enterprise licenses. This occurred because OI&T mandated that CPACs replace thin clients which depend on networked resources to operate with computers. However, OI&T did not consider the CPACs’ operating framework before purchasing the computers or mandating the replacement. Because CPACs did not change their operating framework when they converted from thin clients and only used computers as gateways, OI&T paid for underutilized computers and avoidable licenses. As a result, OI&T wasted about $7.2 million in VA funds converting CPACs from thin clients to computers. We recommended the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology implement policies and procedures to ensure cost effective utilization of information technology equipment, installed software, and services, and ensure the coordination of acquisitions with affected VA organizations. This will help ensure VA’s operating framework and organizational needs are considered prior to acquisitions. The Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology concurred with our recommendation and provided plans for the corrective action. We will monitor the planned actions and follow up on their implementation.