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 "federal contracts" ...
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Fraud on the Job
KING 5 dedicated nearly a year to dig into the complex world of the federal minority contracting program. The program is intended to remedy past and current discrimination against minority and women-owned contracting businesses who want a shot at working on federal highway projects. But instead of fostering equal opportunity, KING found staggering fraud and abuse in the taxpayer-funded program. The investigative series titled “Fraud on the Job" was born. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is responsible for administering the program. WSDOT contracts with a small state agency, the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE) to certify which contractors qualify as "disadvantaged business enterprises" or DBEs. They also make sure that once in, the companies aren’t cheating or becoming too big to qualify. The state’s share of billions of federal highway funds comes with some strings attached, including a requirement that a certain percentage of money spent on transportation projects be reserved for minority-owned firms. The results of the “Fraud on the Job” series were swift and extraordinary. Two days after the first story aired, the governor ordered the Washington State Patrol to conduct a criminal fraud investigation. She also ordered a top-to- bottom review of OMWBE. Two weeks later, the governor asked the director of OMWBE to resign. Another top manager quit and another was fired. Two of the companies KING exposed as defrauding the government were removed from the DBE program by the state. State and federal legislation is now being drafted to stop the cheating. And now the FBI and the Inspector General of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation are investigating.
Tags: fraud; government; tax; taxpayer; fund
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Watchdog website and its web pages
The Oklahoman/NewsOK.com started this project in 2008 with the Right to Know page, a collection of databases developed internally to go along with stories and links to relevant public information. That site became part of the Watchdog page in 2009. In 2010, the staff continued to evolve the Watchdog page with "mini-sites" of investigative topics, such as a political corruption case at the Oklahoma Legislature; the staff's FOI fight over the birth dates of public employees; and allegations of bid-rigging with a married lawmaker and lobbyist for a private company seeking a state juvenile justice contract. Other "mini-sites" under Watchdog include ongoing coverage of the state Department of Human Services and the federal stimulus package.
Tags: continuous coverage; online; watchdog; bid-rigging; Department of Human Services; federal stimulus; FOI; Right to Know
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Public Works, Hidden Violations
Several construction companies were given "tens of millions in federal stimulus contracts," even though they violated several laws and regulations. Also, a few had been "convicted of defrauding taxpayers on previous projects" and others had previously paid fines for violating regulations. These should have been revealed when filling out the forms to be approved for the stimulus contracts.
Tags: transportation; workplace; safety; pollution; environment; FOIA; Highway Division; officials; federal government; federal funds
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Benefits Denied
This series reveals the “shameful failing of both the state and federal government in living up to its promises to both Indiana’s most vulnerable and it’s most brave”. The story began when a “1.3 billion dollar state welfare contract” was cancelled and “new federal directives were sent to every V.A. office nationwide”. Further, when people were sick and turning to the V.A. for help, their requests were denied.
Tags: Department of Veterans Affairs; medical care; Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA); support; military; soldiers; agencies
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"Minority Contractors in Illinois Get Few Stimulus Dollars"
WBEZ Radio "analyzed contract documents" from the Illinois Department of Transportation to investigate where the money awarded from the Recovery Act is actually going. The analysis revealed that minority- and female-owned businesses are not getting their fair share of the funds.
Tags: Recovery Act; Illinois Department of Transportation; Federal Transportation Secretary; Ray LaHood; American Reinvestment and Recovery Act; stimulus act
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New Orleans's tech contracting scandal
Former top mayoral aide, Greg Meffert, was caught in a web of self-dealing and exposed free vacations that the mayor had received. The series “helped the FBI and other federal investigators track the payments and relationships”. Also, it eventually “led to a 63-count federal criminal indictment against Meffert, his wife and the city vendor, Mark St. Pierre”.
Tags: crime; Mayor Ray Nagin; technology chief; state government; corruption; gifts; city hall; civil trial; city government
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Big Gov: Runaway Spending Under Bush
President George W. Bush's spending for defense and homeland security opened up a funding funnel that poured billions into a poorly managed and badly supervised contracting system.
Tags: George Bush; Department of Homeland Security; Department of Defense; federal government; money; contracts; budget; bureaucracy; economy; Pentagon
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The Financial Collapse
Among the findings in this package are: In February, Morgenson warned that the arcane contracts known as credit-default swaps were so volatile and explosive that they would "set off a chain reaction of losses at financial institutions." In May, she examined the moves by private investment firms to buy up hundreds of New York apartment buildings, betting that they could evict tenants and raise rents. In July, she reported on the enormous increase in consumer debt and the changes in the lending system that encouraged risky loans. In September, she dissected the small London Investment unit that had bedazzled the insurance giant AIG with its profits but soon brought it to its knees and helped trigger a widespread collapse. In November, she profiled the reckless executives who gambled on subprime home mortgages and led Merrill Lynch to its demise. In December, she held the credit-rating agencies to sharp account, in particular Moody's, showing how they had minimized or overlooked the dangers to investors.
Tags: AIG; credit-default swaps; Wall Street; Merill Lynch; Federal Reserve; columnists
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The Federal Contractor Misconduct Database
The Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD) is a Web-based resource that tracks the civil, criminal, and administrative misconduct of the federal government's largest suppliers of goods and services. POGO created the FCMD to ensure that the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars the federal government awards every year in contracts (over $530 billion in fiscal year 2008) go to companies with solid records of responsibility, integrity and performance. POGO developed the FCMD because government contracting officers are required by law to award contracts to responsible vendors only but lack a centralized repository of information on vendors' misconduct histories. To make decisions that are in the best interest of the public and prevent fraud, wasted and abuse, the government must have as much information as possible reflecting the past performance and responsibility of prospective vendors. The FCMD provides this information free to the public in a concise and user-friendly format. The FCMD spotlights each of the top 100 federal contractors. It complies each contractor's instances of misconduct -- actual and alleged -- dating back to 1995. In addition to misconduct instances, the FCMD includes primary source documents and links to the contractors' Web sites, annual reports, SEC filings, and lobbying and campaign finance information. Search and sort features allow users to search the data for key words, or to organize the data in interesting ways. The FCMD is an evolving resource. POGO continually adds and updates instances and contractor information. POGO also periodically updates the contractor list to reflect the most current fiscal year ranking. Each year, the roster of contractors will change, but POGO will keep all old rankings on a special archive page so that eventually the FCMD will include hundreds of contractors.
Tags: government contracts; computer-assisted reporting; database work; government oversight; misconduct
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Robert Felner
Former University of Louisville Dean Robert Felner was involved in a money laundering scheme that led to the misappropriation of $2.3 million in contract and federal grant funds.
Tags: Thomas Schroeder; mail fraud; University of Rhode Island; education; graduate school;