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 "possible fraud" ...
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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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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."
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Highway Robbery
An investigative report into how the Indiana State Department of Transportation does business. The investigation exposes waste, abuse, corruption and possible fraud.
Tags: Indiana; Department of Transportation; state government; business practices; FOIA
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State Oversight Lax for Vocational Schools
Students who signed up for vocational schools seeking training in computers, health care and cosmetology among other fields of study, have filed 1,177 complaints to California's Bureau for Postsecondary and Vocational Education in the past two years. Bureau administrators admitted to being passive regarding student complaints which were most often about school fraud, false advertising and failure to make refunds. Schools failed, with impugnity, to report satisfactory graduation and job-placement records as required by law. And recently the SEC has opened an investigation of one company, ITT Educational Services, for possible falsified attendance records, grades and job-placement statistics, none of which was caught by California's bureau.
Tags: Vocational training; computer schools; medical care; lack of governmental oversight; cosmetology schools; class action lawsuits
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NewsChannel 5 Investigates: High-Dollar Highways
This year-long, in-depth investigation reveals secrets of Tennessee's multimillion-dollar highway construction industry, including possible bid-rigging. The findings uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars being doled out in state and local highway contracts without competition, threats and intimidation being used to discourage companies from crossing into 'territory' controlled by highway contractors, and blatant manipulation of zoning laws.
Tags: highway; tax money; threats; road; highway construction industry; bidding; department of transportation; fraud; bribery; state contracts; FOIA
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Donated Cars: A License for Abuse?
Many charities receive donations of used cars. The authors expose the possibilities for fraud within the system and highlight both positive and negative aspects. The article also discusses legislation that could affect the system.
Tags: tax breaks; deduction; charity; Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
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100-Million Dollar Fire Trap
An investigation by KMGH-TV revealed that the contractors who built Denver's new $100-million Federal Courthouse ignored the National Electric Code and installed potentially hazardous wire to save money and time, essentially making the building the General Services Administration said was safe a firetrap. "In the days following (the) investigation, GSA hired an independent contractor to inspect the Federal Courthouse's entire electrical system. Inspectors found nearly three miles of dangerous and improperly installed wire. The GSA ordered the contractor to remove the wire at no cost to the taxpayer. The GSA has also started its own investigation into the possibility of fraud and wrongdoing by the electrical contractor."
Tags: Denver; federal courthouse; National Electric Code; General Services Administration; GSA; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT
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The Irsay Investigation
This is a year-long investigation into one of Indiana's most high-profile citizens: Colt's owner Jim Irsay. The investigation revealed a long history of prescription drug abuse, including brushes with the law and several serious overdoses. Irsay contended that it was a personal issue, and so the story was never aired. That is, not until WTHR learned that he was at the center of a DEA investigation into possible prescription fraud.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Drugs; Sports; fraud; DEA; prescriptions; health care
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A Cozy Connection
WOAI-TV exposes a romantic relationship between David Garcia, a San Antonio city councilman, and a female judge. The story reveals that the councilman made more money than any other court-appointed attorney in Bexar County because the judge appointed him to an immense number of cases as a defense attorney. According to the contest questionnaire, "the investigation proved the judge and the councilman ... share a bank account, shared an address at one time, and possibly committed fraud together."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; City government; courts; public funds; justice; fraud; judicial misconduct; city councilman; judge; corruption
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Feed 5: Best of Show and Tell
1) Jennifer Kraus (WTVF-Nashville) This story exposes problems at the Nashville office of international charity "Feed the Children." In a four-month investigation, WTVF-TV's undercover cameras caught the charity's staff loading up their personal cars with donated items and taking the items home. 2) Deborah Sherman (WFXT - Boston) Costa Rican trips for child sex. Actually spoke with girls who used to get paid by American tourists for sex. Focuses on one area man charged with this crime. 3) Anna Werner, David Raziq (KHOU-Houston) KHOU-TV reports that "You're in physical pain. You need help. So you go to your doctor expecting needed relief and comfort. But what if in the process of treating you, you realize this healer's touch has become 'sexual?' That's what dozens of Houston women claimed happened to them when they were referred to a local health professional, a professional they claimed used their trust to molest and even rape them. His name is Shin Higashiura and he claimed to be a Master of Shiatsu, also known as acupressure, a Japanese massage therapy that promises health benefits...." 4) Jilda Unruh (WCCO-Minneapolis) An investigation reveals that automatic door sensors can't detect certain colors. The doors often close on elderly people, causing them harm. 5) Tom Merriman/Jeff Harris (WEWS-Cleveland) The story investigates how state-trained lifeguards perform on state beaches as compared to privately trained lifeguards on private beaches. Follows both teams though a simulation. The state team fails horribly and never recovers the dummy planted for them to rescue. 6) Jim Schaefer; Shellee Smith (WXYZ-Detroit) WXYZ-TV discovered that the leaders of Highland Park, a poor city surrounded by Detroit, had virtually ignored a major problem in the 911 emergency response system while continuing to enjoy the relatively expensive perks of their jobs. While claiming there was no money in the budget to fix the problem, the mayor leased a brand-new Lincoln with city cash. Undercover video found citizens at risk, fire fighters in danger and no one helping. 7) Drew Griffin (KCBS-Los Angeles) "The Real ConAir" Investigation reveals department of corrections transporting convicts on commercial flights. Passengers are not told who's sitting beside them. Planes are forced to land because of disturbances during the flight. A girl is sexually assaulted by one of these convicts. 8) Robb Leer; Maria Tomasch (KSTP-Minneapolis) Inmates can change their names on the taxpayer's dime. 9) Jeremy Rogalski; Bill Dutton; Gerry Lanosga; Kathleen Johnston (WTHR-Indianapolis) WTHR-TV reports that "a source mentioned to us that numerous DUI cases were being dismissed because police witnesses fail to appear in court... After we crunched a slice of our county's criminal justice data ... We found thousands of DUI cases - nearly one in ten - thrown out because cops didn't show..." 10) Wes Williams; C.J. Ward (KPNX-Phoenix) Security guards with criminal records have a "License to Steal." 11) Tony Kovaleski; Matt Goldberg (KPRC-Houston) Ninety-eight guns were discovered in schools in 10 of Houston's largest school districts -- that works out to 5,864 students per gun. 12) Phil Williams; Chris Clark (WTVF-Nashville) WTVF-TV's investigation into the backgrounds of school teachers found more than three dozen convicted felons working in Metro Nashville-Davidson County schools. 13) Chris Halsne; Kim Albro; Dave Weed (KWTV-Oklahoma City) Voters handed Oklahoma City Schools a 93 million dollar bond in 1993 to improve schools. The money is now gone, but many projects remain unfinished. KWTV-TV's investigation found millions of dollars in waste, fraud and mismanagement. 14) Laure Quinlivan; Jeff Keene; Ken Fulk; Mark Shafer; Scott Diener; Stuart Zanger (WCPO-Cincinnati) WCPO-TV's investigation "... to monitor County officials as they began spending nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer money... earmarked to build two, new sports stadiums for our city's professional sports teams, the Bengals and Red. As (the) investigation enters its third year, work on the first stadium is two-thirds complete and ground will soon break on the second. Already, our investigation has revealed broken promises, manipulation of numbers in official reports, political cronyism in contract awards, creation of 'pass-through' companies and other questionable and possibly illegal activities...." 15) Jim Barry; John Campbell; Sam Zeff; Jennifer Snell; Denise Haley; Brad Naw (WTXF-Philadelphia) After transit union strike crippled Philadelphia's bus and subway service for forty days, WTXF-TV investigated the region's transportation agency - Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA is one of the largest and most expensive transit systems in the county. This investigation exposed a widespread culture of laziness and dishonest work habits that was allowing hundreds of buses with potentially dangerous problems out onto the street each day. 16)Darcy Spears; Kim Kruger (KVBC-Las Vegas) "Taken for a Ride". Taxi drivers getting kickbacks for taking clients to certain bars/stripclubs.
Tags: TAPE; Investigative reporting; computer-assisted reporting; IRE; FOI; CAR; no transcripts