Message from the Inspector General
I am pleased to submit to Congress our Semiannual Report for the period of April 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022.
This report closes out a fiscal year in which our office again provided a strong return on the American taxpayers’ investment in us. During Fiscal Year 2022, our audit and investigative work identified nearly $468 million in potential cost savings and recovered more than $127 million for the federal government.
During this period, we issued to the agency multiple audit documents identifying significant deficiencies in GSA’s Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) Program. Most notably, we delivered an alert memorandum warning that although GSA was on track to greatly expand that program’s Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) Pilot, persistent and extensive errors in the data render it unusable for pricing purposes. We also issued an audit report finding that price analysis by GSA contracting staff is so deficient across the entire MAS Program that the Federal Acquisition Service cannot provide customer federal agencies with assurance that their purchases under the program meet statutory and regulatory requirements. We will continue to engage in dialogue with GSA’s senior leadership to seek agency action addressing the significant deficiencies in the TDR pilot before its further expansion.
We also continued our oversight of GSA’s activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this reporting period, we alerted agency management that GSA’s Public Buildings Service did not test water before re-opening child care centers closed due to COVID-19, and we found that the Public Buildings Service faces challenges in its efforts to improve air filtration in GSA-controlled facilities to help prevent workplace exposures to COVID-19.
Our special agents conducted successful investigations of fraud, misconduct, and criminal actions by contractors and governmental officials, including an Oklahoma Assistant Police Chief who stole GSA firearms, an Army Program Office Director who conspired to defraud the government, and a GSA Real Estate Acquisition Director who received an illegal gratuity. They also uncovered a variety of procurement fraud schemes, bringing to justice contractors who made false certifications in GSA’s System for Award Management about their eligibility for federal contracts, and companies that provided non-conforming products to government agencies, including one case involving substandard flame retardant clothing.
We appreciate the continued support for our work by Congress and the agency, and the dedicated efforts of OIG staff to protect the integrity of the federal procurement system.
Carol F. Ochoa
Inspector General
September 30, 2022
REPORT:
