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 "government contractors" ...
-
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
-
Crooked Teeth
The WFAA-TV investigative series, "Crooked Teeth," reveals a troubling lack of state and federal oversight of the Texas Medicaid orthodontic program, which is designed to help poor children with severely misaligned teeth. The lack of oversight has allowed Texas dentists and their corporations to exploit the health care bureaucracy and garner hundreds of millions of dollars. "Crooked Teeth" also raises questions about other Medicaid reimbursements nationally, including troubling payment policies by one of the nation's largest government contractors.
Tags: orthodontics; Medicaid; teeth; Texas; health care
-
King High Charter Controversy
The King Charter stories reveal that two public officials- Dwight Evans, a state legislator, and Robert Archie, chair of the city's school governance board- collaborated on a secret campaign to steer a lucrative charter school contract to a politically connected private contractor.
Tags: Charter Schools
-
Two Worlds: Government Contractors, Alaska Natives
The investigation documents the Alaska native corporation program's failure to help impoverished native shareholders it was designed to help. Despite this, the program received $29 billion in contracts over the last decade while the government looked the other way.
Tags: government contractors; ANC; Alaska; contracts; oversight
-
Sabotaging the System
This story includes the “first confirmed account of a successful cyber attack against an electric utility company, resulting in major blackouts that lasted for days”. The electric grid not only supplies electricity but also keeps water, telephones, trains, and air traffic control up and running. Also in the U.S., government agencies, defense contractors, and banks are hacked everyday by foreign spy agencies.
Tags: National Intelligence; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); cyber security; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); computers; technology
-
"Union Township Investigation"
A Cincinnati township has found itself in the midst of an "ethical swamp." Government officials made high dollar deals with contractors to make way for new developments in the city. The officials then took "high-level" positions "with the developer." In addition, bids were skewed so that they would only go to one contracting company, the same company that was owned by "the son of a township official."
Tags: Chuck Kubicki; Ken Geis; Clermont County; Cincinnati United Contractors; Cliff Johnson; Ohio Ethics Laws;
-
A $191 Million Question
Waste, fraud and criminal activity plague the procurement budget, an expenditure that ballooned to $600 billion in 2007. The Post investigates the sources of the escalating costs and finds government and corporate ties to be appallingly mangled.
Tags: procurement; military; corporate; Washington; army; contracts; O'Harrow; contractor; technology program; manager; billion;
-
Four Stars for Hire
Retired senior officers are been hired by the US military as senior mentors. These mentors counsel current commanders and run war games. Further, the mentors are being paid at rates much higher than the active-duty officers. Also, they are not just working for the military; many are employed by defense contractors. So these mentors are not only being paid large sums by the US government, they are also receiving income from the defense firms.
Tags: Retired senior officers; Military; Mentors; Commanders; Defense contractors; Financial; Marines; Pentagon; Wages; Generals; Admirals; US government
-
How the US Funds the Taliban
This investigation uncovered Taliban insurgents reaping millions of dollars in Department of Defense contracts. "These contracts have become an immense boon for the Taliban, as security firms found that paying off the insurgents was the only way to get supplies through hostile territory to US troops." This has become a large part of the Taliban's income.
Tags: Department of Defense; US military; logistics; Afghanistan; contracts; NCL Holdings; contractor; government; security official
-
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