WASHINGTON — Data analysis can help Amtrak avoid fraud in the procurement process as it deals with historic amounts of funding for infrastructure projects, Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General says in a new report.
The report issued Wednesday, April 17, is a follow-up to one last year that identified procurement and contracts as one of four areas in which the company is at highest risk of fraud [see “Amtrak Inspector General warns of fraud risk …,” Trains News Wire, May 19, 2023]. The latest report notes that the Office of Inspector General has investigated 110 fraud-related cases between 2017 and September 2023, helping recover $269 million in restitution, forfeitures, and other areas. The office has also issued 25 audit reports identifying areas of vulnerability in that time.
The new report also says that best practices indicate organizations collect data in a format that helps recognize potential fraud, such as patterns of winning and losing by the same group of bidders; a single entity creating multiple identities to create the appearance of competition; or sudden increases in spending or high numbers of change orders by a vendor. The report includes appendixes detailing forms of contract and procurement fraud, and ways data can identify them.
The full report is available here.
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