The General Services Administration (GSA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently issued its Semiannual Report to the Congress, which covers April 1 to September 30, 2015 and provides year-end statistics on the OIG's audit and investigative work for the past fiscal year.
According to the Report, the OIG issued 85 audit reports and 7 audit memoranda during Fiscal Year 2015, resulting in management decisions to redirect upwards of $1.4 billion to better use.
The OIG's investigative arm also was very active during Fiscal Year 2015. The OIG launched 161 new investigations, while closing 204 pending cases. Additionally, OIG activities resulted in 69 cases being accepted for criminal prosecution, 28 cases being accepted for civil litigation, 50 criminal indictments or informations, and 42 successful prosecutions of previously referred criminal matters. The OIG also helped to secure 18 civil settlements, 63 contractor or individual suspensions, and 73 contractor or individual debarments. Through the OIG's investigative work, the government obtained approximately $243 million in criminal, civil, administrative, and other recoveries.
In addition to its audit and investigative work, the OIG identified significant management problems in its acquisition programs. For example, the OIG determined that contractors' commercial sales practices (CSP) information was not always current, accurate, or complete, and that contractors' proposed labor rates were sometimes overstated. Moreover, the OIG determined that Price Reductions Clause (PRC) compliance monitoring was ineffective, and that contractors sometimes used unqualified labor under GSA contracts. The OIG also concluded that contracting offers require additional training, including specialized training for multiple award schedule contracts.
The Semiannual Report provides key insight into GSA's priorities for Fiscal Year 2016. The GSA OIG likely will focus on identifying CSP and PRC deficiencies, as well as flawed contractor labor mixes, to resolving existing management problems, which could have significant False Claims Act implications for contractors.
Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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