Amtrak employee charged with CARES Act fraud, theft of government funds after OIG investigation

For Immediate Release

March 10, 2022

NEW ORLEANS — An Amtrak employee was charged March 3, 2022, with making false statements and theft of government funds related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

According to court documents, Stacey V. Santemore, Sr., 46, formerly of New Orleans but now a resident of Houston, allegedly made false statements to the U.S. Small Business Administration for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining pandemic-related relief loans funded by the federal government, including Paycheck Protection Program funds, of which he received approximately $89,000.

Santemore also allegedly applied for and received Louisiana unemployment benefits through the Louisiana Workforce Commission, despite being fully employed by Amtrak. At the time, LWC’s unemployment benefits were being subsidized by temporary federal unemployment insurance programs created in the CARES Act, and Santemore is alleged to have obtained more than $1,000 from April 2020 through March 2021, amounting to theft of government funds.

The case was investigated by Amtrak OIG and the Department of Labor OIG. U.S. Attorney Duane E. Evans, US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana, announced the charges. More information is available in the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office: https://direc.to/hsEP.

Reports of fraud, waste, or abuse; criminal or unethical acts affecting Amtrak’s property or operations; or mismanagement in Amtrak programs or operations can be made 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the Amtrak OIG Hotline at 1-800-468-5469 or online at https://amtrakoig.gov/report-fraud-waste-abuse.

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