Office of Inspector General

WMATA Work Group Briefing

Inspector General – Geoffrey A. Cherrington

Deputy Inspector General for Audits – Stephen D. Dingbaum
Deputy Inspector General for Investigations – Kimberly A. Howell
Deputy Inspector General for Inspection, Evaluations & Special Projects – Rene Febles
February 2019
 Authority

• Office of Inspector General (OIG) established by Board of Directors (Board)

Resolution in 2006.

– Codified in bylaws in 2009

• The Inspector General reports to the Board.

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 Mandate

• Conduct and supervise audits, program evaluations and investigations

• Promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness

• Detect and prevent fraud, waste and abuse

• Keep the Board informed about deficiencies and progress of corrective actions

• Make periodic reports to the Board

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 Organization

Inspector General

Deputy Inspector General

Deputy Inspector General Deputy Inspector General
for Inspections, Evaluations &
for Audits for Investigations
Special Projects

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 Office of Audit

• Conducts performance audits and evaluations

– Effectiveness and efficiency of operations

– Follow generally accepted audit practices
– Reports on OIG website

• Conducts contract audits

– Fair and reasonable price

• Conducts financial audits

– Annual audit of financial statements

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 Performance Audits & Evaluations

• FY2018

– Eight audit/evaluation reports

– Focused on safety and cybersecurity

• FY2019

– Seven audit reports issued to-date

– Focused on procurement and cybersecurity

– $1.9 million in cost avoidance/funds put to better use

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 FY2018 Audit Report

• Radio Emergency Alarms

– Emergency alarm button pushed over 6,400 times

– Rail Operations Center did not respond

– Safety issue: non-response during real emergency

– Management disabled emergency button

– Other emergency systems in place

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 Contract Audits

• FY2018

– 97 reports issued

– Over $2.3 million in cost savings

• FY2019

– 56 reports issued to-date

– Over $5.8 million in cost savings

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 Financial Audit

• FY2018 Financial Statements (issued in FY2019)

– Conducted by independent public accounting firm

– Two reports: Financial Statements and Single Audit

– Unmodified opinion

– Two significant deficiencies

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 Office of Inspections, Evaluations &
Special Projects

• Conducts inspections, evaluations and special projects to determine:

– Efficiency and effectiveness

– Impact or sustainability of operations and programs

• Follow inspection standards

– Allow flexibility and timeliness

– Not overly prescriptive

• Work is coordinated with Audits and Investigations

– Avoid duplication of effort

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 Office of Investigations

• Conducts criminal, civil and administrative investigations

• Cases presented to

− Federal and state prosecutors for criminal charges

− Management for administrative action

− OIG Audit or other agencies when OIG investigation not warranted

• Investigates allegations of whistleblower retaliation

• Manages hotline operations

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 Investigations Activities & Results – CY2018

• Three criminal indictments and one arrest

– Bribery, timekeeping scheme, solicitation of a minor

• Completed six investigations

– Railcar components, Ethics, Mismanagement of Funds, Whistleblower

• Issued four Management Alerts

– Phishing schemes, withholding exemptions

• Issued six Interim Reports of Investigations

– Electronic Device Abuse, MetroAccess, TimeKeeping

• Reported the results of four whistleblower retaliation cases

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 Investigations Activities & Results – CY2018
(Continued)

• OIG Hotline, including intake of complaints and determining appropriate

actions

− Received 409 complaints

− Referred 216 complaints to management or other entity

• Proactive Activities

− Data mining of WMATA resources

− Financial fraud working groups

− Recruiting informants

− Prevention/awareness training

− Communication with management before issuing reports

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 Initiatives

• Outreach

− New Employee Orientation

− COTR training

− Meetings with bus and rail divisions

− Meetings with Federal, state, and local officials

• Marketing

− New fraud posters in trains, buses, WMATA buildings

− New website

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 Challenges

• No independent legal counsel

− Must rely on WMATA’s General Counsel

− Poses a possible conflict of interest

• No separate budget

− Current General Manager supports OIG

− Board supports giving OIG separate budget

− Should be in a Board Resolution

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 Challenges (Continued)

• No separate human resource capability

− WMATA screens all applications

− WMATA performs all background investigations

− WMATA sets OIG salary scale

• No separate procurement authority

• No separate information management infrastructure

− Current Chief Information Management Officer working with OIG

− OIG establishing independent infrastructure

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 Challenges (Continued)

• WMATA policies hinder work

− Email retention is six months

− OIG suggests seven years

• Lack of sufficient resources

− Additional resources would allow OIG to broaden its coverage

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 Hotline

To submit a report of fraud, waste, abuse or misconduct concerning Metro

activities or operations, you may contact the OIG via:

• Phone:
888-234-2374

• Email:
wmata-oig-hotline@verizon.net

• Postal Mail:
Metro Office of Inspector General
Attn: OIG Hotline
600 5th Street, NW, 3A
Washington, DC 20001

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Questions

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