AMTRAK: Insights on Fraud Risks as the Company Expands Its Mission

This report offers the OIG’s perspective relative to fraud risks facing the company as it continues its expansion into large-scale acquisitions and infrastructure programs.

If history is any indicator, funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—like other large spending bills—will be targeted by criminals through a variety of unlawful fraudulent schemes. To its credit, the company recently established an Integrated Risk and Compliance Program (IRCP) to monitor fraud risks and establish capabilities to proactively identify fraudulent activity. We have already engaged with the IRCP, and we are optimistic that our insights will help make the company a harder target for fraud-related crimes.

Since 2017, however, our office has investigated 99 fraud-related cases impacting the company and helped recover $120 million in restitution, forfeitures, and other recoveries. We have also issued 22 audit reports during this period identifying weak controls that would-be criminals could exploit. With the company anticipating that it will have at least $30 billion in active capital projects in fiscal year 2023, this report synthesizes some of our prior work, illustrates how fraud risks manifest, and shares ways the company can mitigate these risks. Our work focuses specifically on four high-risk fraud areas:

• Contracts and procurements

• Health care

• Employee wrongdoing

• Cybercrime