Investigation Report on Mismanagement of Funds in Veteran Affairs Conferences

Linda A. Halliday, Assistant Inspector General, highlighted significant issues in the VA's handling of conference expenditures. The investigation uncovered lack of transparency, poor oversight, and potential ethical violations in the spending of VA funds. Failure to account for expenses and inadequate controls raised concerns of fraud and mismanagement. Recommendations for improved accountability and oversight were put forth to address these critical issues.

• Investigation
• Mismanagement
• Funds
• VA Conferences
• Oversight

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1. Linda A. Halliday Assistant Inspector General for Audits and Evaluations Office of Inspector General U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs FAEC Annual Conference - September 2013

2. Background What We Found Challenges for Audit Working Within VA OIG and With Other OIGs Working With VA Working With Congress and the Media Impact and Future Work OIG Report: Administrative Investigation of FY 2011 Human Resources Conferences in Orlando, Florida (RPT # 12-02525-291) 2

3. Tip to VA OIG Hotline Following GSA OIGs Report allegations of waste and mismanagement $6.1M for two conferences to train 1,800 VA Human Resources Staff at Orlando, Florida VA Chief of Staff had approved three conferences for $8 M to train 3,000 staff 3

4. VA could not provide a complete or accurate accounting of its expenditures VA s estimates of conference cost were changing and unreliable No one person could identify where we would find support for all conference expenditures Funding for these conference expenses came from multiple appropriations Controls and oversight of VA conferences almost non-existent 4

5. Time - September 30th Publication Goal Resources Evidence and lack of audit trails Potential fraud and Ethical violations Reporting 5

6. Training was implemented to fulfill valid training needs however VA Leadership failed to provide proper oversight Abdication of Responsibility We questioned $762,000 in Costs Significant expenditures made by VA staff resulted in unauthorized commitments Illegal Gifts VA s pre-planning site visits to conference facilities unnecessary Interagency Agreements VA could not identify the number of IAs used Contract Planning, Changes, and Oversight out of control Purchase Card spending out of control Training was implemented to fulfill valid training needs however 6

7. Collaboration Between Office of Investigations and Office of Audits & Evaluations Lessons learned shared by GSA OIG OPM OIG coordinated access to Interagency Agreements Use of Subpoenas Recording Interviews and Reviewing E-mails Data mining - Electronic Travel Records 7

8. VA Secretary and VA Deputy Secretary Briefings Consultation with VA s General Counsel s Designated Agency Ethics Official Use of a Share Point Site 8

9. Initial Contacts with Congress Preliminary Findings Briefed to Oversight Committees Final Briefings to Oversight Committees Managing Media Contacts 9

10. Forty-Nine Recommendations Leadership Changes New VA Conference Policies and Procedures Potential Future Savings Spikes in Hotline Complaints Required Reporting by OIGs Spin-Off Reviews 10

11. VA OIG Website http://www.va.gov/oig/ VA OIG on Twitter https://twitter.com/VetAffairsOIG VA OIG Hotline E-Mail: vaoighotline@va.gov (800) 488-8244 9:00am 4:00pm Eastern Time Monday Friday (except Federal holidays) FAX: (202) 495-5861 Mail: VA Inspector General Hotline (53E) 810 Vermont Ave NW Washington DC 20420 11