Other OIG Activities

Investigations

The Office of Investigations investigates allegations of waste, fraud, abuse, gross mismanagement, employee and contractor misconduct, and criminal and civil violations of law that have an impact on the Institution's programs and operations. It refers matters to the U.S. Department of Justice whenever the OIG has reasonable grounds to believe there has been a violation of federal criminal law. It also identifies fraud indicators and recommends measures to management to improve the Institution's ability to protect itself against fraud and other wrongdoing.

Summaries of Selected Closed Cases and Complaints

Theft of Funds

A former employee diverted more than $55,000 of museum cash collections to her personal account over a 3 year period. Following our investigation, she pled guilty to one felony count of violating 18 U.S.C. Section 641 (theft of government property).

On November 28, 2011, a federal court sentenced her to 3 months confinement, 3 years probation, and ordered her to pay $47,885 in restitution. The investigators shared the fraud finding with our Office of Audits, which in turn examined the lack of internal controls that allowed such a crime to occur undetected for three years. Audits also informed Smithsonian management about the deficiency.

Failure to Obtain Authorization for Outside Employment

We conducted an inquiry into an employee, an exhibition developer, who sits on outside boards and had, in the past, consulted with non-Smithsonian museums without first obtaining the required clearance from the Smithsonian Office of the General Counsel (OGC). As a result of our inquiry, OGC advised the employee on proper procedure and ensured that the employee obtained the proper authorization both for participating on outside boards and for outside paid employment.

Recovery of Artifact

We assisted a federal agency with an inquiry into the status of an artifact that was being publicly auctioned. We determined that the artifact had belonged to the Smithsonian but that the Smithsonian had deaccessioned it in 1983 and transferred it to the other agency. Using the information our Special Agents gathered, including Smithsonian curatorial and registration documentation, the agency was able to recover the artifact.