Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General is detailing what it called “the largest employee conspiracy” the office has ever investigated, a widespread scheme in which at least 119 employees conspired with New York health care providers to bilk Amtrak’s health care plan of more than $12 million from 2019 to 2022.
Of the 119 employees implicated, 28 retired or resigned directly from the OIG’s investigation, and 30 left the company for other reasons. A dozen employees have been criminally charged in the case, and seven have pleaded guilty, pending sentencing.
The OIG’s findings on 61 remaining active employees were given to Amtrak for consideration of appropriate administrative disciplinary action.
“The sheer volume of employees who cavalierly participated in this scheme to steal Amtrak’s funds suggests not only a serious lapse in basic ethics, but a troubling workforce culture, at least in the Northeast region, in which blatant criminal behavior was somehow normalized,” Amtrak Inspector General Kevin H. Winters said in a release.
“After assessing the significant number of employees involved, this case represents the largest employee conspiracy our office has ever investigated,” Winters added.“ We hope this investigation and the resulting accountability process serves as a deterrent for Amtrak employees and health care providers who may choose to engage in such schemes, and we ask anyone who suspects or observes such fraud to report it to our fraud, waste, and abuse hotline.”
The employees implicated in the scheme, based in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C., accepted cash kickbacks from three health care providers in exchange for the use of their insurance information, and in some cases, that of their dependents. The providers used the employee-provided information to file fraudulent and questionable medical claims for services that were never provided or not medically necessary.
Amtrak’s health care plan was billed over $16 million and paid out more than $12 million during the scheme.
