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 "title" ...
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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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Backdoor Branches
The investigation turns up "backdoor branches" where unscrupulous dealers are using loopholes within state and federal business laws to purchase license plates and titles for undocumented drivers.
Tags: license plates; bureau of motor vehicles; I.D.; backdoor branches
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"Their Crime, Your Dime"
Following several tips on possible "government waste," and schemes that target Seattle taxpayers, KING-TV produced this series of three stories titled "Their Crime, Your Dime." The team exposed how merchants operated a "broad scheme" that allowed citizens to convert their food stamps into cash. Another story revealed how "welfare recipients" were spending millions of "taxpayer cash in the state's casinos."
Tags: food stamps; taxpayer; welfare; State Department of Social and Health Services; ATM; casino; public records; black market
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East of St. Louis School District 189 investigation
This investigation into East St. Louis School District 189 shows misuse of funds and highlights questionable decisions at administrative levels for both academics and athletics. About 7,500 students attend classes in the district that has received constantly failing grades when compared to educations achievement statewide. The district receives millions in federal "Title 1" money because more than 90 percent of its students live blow the poverty line. However, this investigation revealed questionable use of those taxpayer funds. In September, the story took a turn and focused on the champion East St. Louis Flyers football team that was eventually kicked out of the state playoffs despite having an undefeated recored. In these stories, questionable practices by district officials regarding strict residency rules were revealed.
Tags: Title 1; academics; athletics; school; students; low-income; taxpayer; East St. Louis Flyers; football; School District 189; corruption; finance; FOI
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"Sexual Assault on Campus: A Frustrating Search for Justice"
Unfortunately, sexual assault occurs on campuses all over the U.S. For the small number of those who come forward to report the act, institutional policies can often make the process toward accountability difficult, sometimes even causing the victim to drop the claim. The Center for Public Integrity finds that most university policies are lacking in "transparency" and often lead to less the harsh punishment for the accused attackers.
Tags: Title IX; Clery Act; federal Department of Education; sexual violence; FERPA; Security on Campus Inc; Victim Rights Law Center
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Unraveling the Mystery of the "Dead City"
A painting by Egon Schiele titled "Dead City" belonged to Fritz Grunbaum and his wife before they died in the Holocaust. A quarter of a century later the struggle for recovering art raided by the Nazis still lasts as heirs try to reclaim the work.
Tags: Austria; WWII; Leopold Museum; Eberhard Kornfeld; Otto Kallir; Vienna; seizure;
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The F-School Bomb
"F-School Bomb" tells the story of English teacher Erika Selig's attempts to address a serious lack of discipline at Allapattah Middle School where she taught. Through Selig's eyes, readers were able to get a first-hand look into the daunting problems facing children, teachers and administrators inside a title 1 school. From racially charged fights between Hispanic and black students to the pressures of teaching students to pass Florida's standardized tests, Allapattah Middle School exemplified everything that is wrong with inner-city failing schools.
Tags: inner-city schools; education; standardized tests; race; public schools; juvenile delinquents; teaching
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Affordable No More
The Southeastern Economic Development Corp. had been tasked with "redeveloping one of San Diego's poorest neighborhoods," with the goal of building affordable housing. But people with close ties to this public agency abused the system, selling homes for much higher prices than had been approved in the agency's contract, and also "failed to file the proper deeds on the subsidized homes in the project," allowing the houses to be flipped for a profit.
Tags: Southeastern Economic Development Corp.; redevelopment; affordable housing; property flipping; fraud; title registration
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A Rapid Rise
This investigation examined dozens of unusual real estate deals in working-class neighborhoods in which buyers made low-ball offers to desperate sellers. The recorded sales prices, however, were tens of thousands of dollars more. These deals happened during a precipitous decline in Florida’s housing boom. In each transaction, the buyers borrowed close to the full amount from lenders. The investigations showed that the money between the price paid to the sellers and the recorded sales prices was paid to a third party. This was not always disclosed to the lenders, which is against state and federal law. All the deals involved the same real estate agent, the same title company and the same group of buyers. The same appraiser was used in many of the cases, and the appraisals reflected the higher price. As a result of the inflated prices, property values were artificially raised for the rest of the neighborhoods, resulting in higher taxes.
Tags: real estate; property; taxes; public property;
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Hillsborough County School District Land Investigation
The ninth largest U.S. school district, Hillsborough County (FL), in 2006 was "growing fast enough to fill five new schools" per year. To meet the demand, Hillsborough county used the services of 4 private real estate brokers, without using bids, in violation of its own regulations. Three of the four brokers have records of criminal, legal and financial problems. Some of those brokers simultaneously represented the sellers, or flipped the land themselves, resulting in land purchases often made substantially above appraisal values. Reporters from the St. Petersburg Times documented swampland purchases, and school sites surrounded by the homes of sexual predators.
Tags: land; school board; school district superintendent; real estate brokers; realtors; swampland; bidding practices; state FOI; land flipping; rezoning applications; condemnation; assessments; appraisals; financial investigations; land records; wetland maps; FBI investigation; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; Excel; Matthew B. Cox; Chester B. Luney; Fred Edmister; National Realty Associates; school planning; Wilson-Miller; Florida Real Estate Commission; 2606 East Caracus Land Trust; Laurence E. Fuentes; Fuentes and Kreischer Title Co.; Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation