The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "background checks" ...
-
Demoted to Private: America's Military Housing Disaster
Political patronage, the zeal to privatize and a failure at background checks led to a disaster for taxpayers and military families in Pentagon housing programs in six states. All three branches of the service gave 8,000 military houses and billion-dollar contracts to a company headed by a politically-connected Texan involved in a messy bankruptcy and a Connecticut property management firm that had been previously suspended from HUD housing projects because it diverted millions to its own uses.
Tags: military; housing; privatization; Pentagon; government contracts; corporate abuse; whistle-blower
-
9/11 Redux: Thousands of Aliens' in U.S. Flight School Illegally
This investigation exposed the fact that thousands of foreign national were still obtaining U.S. pilot training and U.S pilot licenses illegally without the required security background checks implemented after the 9-11 terrorists attacks. The story exposed serious flaws in the TSA and FAA system of insuring pilots had successfully done in obtaining piloting skills in the USA prior to the September 11 attacks of 2001.
Tags: September 11, 2001; terrorism; flight schools; Department of Homeland Security; DHS; Transportation Security Administration; TSA; Federal Aviation Administration; FAA; pilot licenses
-
Felons Hunting with guns slip past state law
More than 850 felons had been found to hunt and kill deer with a "modern firearm," which is not allowed by state law. It was discovered that state agencies did not run background checks on felons before issuing a hunting license.
Tags: deer season; game tag; Arkansas Game and Fish Commission; convict; weapon; rifle;
-
The Home Depot
WCVB found that Home Depot used sub-contractors as installers, not full-time employees, and deliberately mislead customers about it. This lead to poor quality installations and dissatisfied customers. Because of the investigation Home Depot not only "changed the way it does background checks on its sub-contractors nationwide but it also developed new policies for its sales staff and sub-contractors."
Tags: company; policy; Home Depot; sub-contractors; consumer; installations; sex offenders;
-
Money for Nothing
This investigation examined loans made by the US Government to foreign businesses. It found that the US government made nearly a quarter-billion dollars of loans to Mexican businesses without doing any fact-checking. The loans fell into default, which could have been avoided if the government had done basic research. Furthermore, the government also made loans to suspected drug cartel-connected members.
Tags: loans; international relations; federal government; open records; data analysis; business; finance; backgrounding
-
Casino Licenses Awarded Without Full Background Checks
Police were blocked by the Pennsylvania governor's administration from doing background checks on "prospective licensees of Pennsylvania's nascent slots industry."
Tags: casino; background; police; Ed Rendell; slot; gaming; state government
-
Desert Dealer
If the State Land Dept. had run a background check on land developer Jim Rhodes, it would have found that he had admitted illegally using funds to aid politicains, along with his connections to corrupt Nevada officials. He purchased 1,000 acres of state trust land and the right to master plan an additional 6,700 acres. Rhodes has been successfully sued for fraud, self dealing and theft, among other offenses.
Tags: Construction; housing; homes; Clark County; Erin Kenny; Dario Herrera
-
Desert Dealer
"Las Vegas homebuilder Jim Rhodes became the most influential developer in the East Valley when he bought more than 1,000 acres of state trust land, and the right to master plan an additional 6,700 acres. The State Land Department made no attempt to check his background before selling the land and planning rights, which will set the tone for 275 squares miles of trust land in the area. Had they checked, Land Department officials would have found that Rhodes has admitted illegally using his money to aid powerful politicians, and had close ties to corrupt public officials in Nevada. He also has repeatedly and successfully been sued for fraud, self dealing and theft; and has a long history of complaints for shoddy construction."
Tags: land development; bribes; civil cases; East Valley; construction
-
Fit to Drive?
According to this Dispatch report, "167 school-bus drivers in Ohio have records of drunken driving or drug abuse." The investigation includes a chart of where in Ohio these drivers operate, and also notes the difficulty "for school officials to check backgrounds on drivers or keep those with drunken-driving convictions out of school buses." Individuals with such histories are profiled.The superintendent of the State Highway Patrol is quoted saying that as someone who has arrested drunken drivers, "I would never want any of these people driving a bus."
Tags: buses; drunk driving; drunk driving convictions; background checks; Ohio bus drivers; school buses
-
Trash-to-Energy Proposal Trashed
A company named Green Power "proposed turning Cheyenne's trash to diesel through the process of catalytic depolymerization." The Austrian gentleman who owned the company, Michael Spitzauer, intended to "cure the shortage of diesel and America's dependence on foreign oil within a matter of years." But a background check revealed a criminal record in Austria, and a jail sentence for fraud. In addition, an expert noted that it is not possible for "a low-energy material such as trash to be turned into a high-energy product such as diesel fuel."