After ensuring that Office staff had the equipment necessary to work remotely, the Office worked to bring its professional training program fully online, develop standards for conducting remote investigations and review and enhance internal controls to protect public funds. The Office also responded to an increased number of calls to our Chapter 30B Technical Assistance Hotline, reflecting new fraud risks that have developed during the pandemic. The Office worked to provide resources for public employees related to COVID-19 while monitoring public funds for fraud and waste. In addition, the Office continued pursuing its regular work, including investigations, recoveries, reviews, collaborations and efforts to cultivate a diverse, skilled and engaged workforce dedicated to excellence, teamwork and the highest standards of professional conduct.
Highlights
Here are a few highlights from last year:
- Recovered $1.8 million in restitution and settlements.
- Provided training in a new online format to over 5,000 participants, a dramatic rise in attendance over previous years.
- Received and responded to 2,986 complaints on our fraud hotlines, more than double the number of complaints from 2019.
- Launched a consolidated OIG COVID-19 Information and Resources page on the OIG’s website.
- Collaborated with the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 Response Command Center to address hotline complaints.
- Established our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, which strives to help the OIG implement best practices to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.
- Led investigations that resulted in the successful prosecution of two Department of Developmental Services employees who committed larceny while working at state-operated group homes.
- Conducted a joint investigation that led to the indictment of an accountant for allegedly stealing $930,000 from four Massachusetts towns.
- Found that Methuen’s former leaders failed the city’s residents, and that the former police chief put his interests above the city’s, in connection with two police contracts.
- Examined overtime shifts at the Massachusetts State Police to determine whether overtime abuses exist in various troops within the department.
- Continued an in-depth review of the Merit Rating Board, the unit within the Registry of Motor Vehicles responsible for maintaining and updating driving records.
- Participated in the development of policies and procedures related to the Commonwealth’s public design and construction laws, reviewed public land transactions and provided input on more than 100 pieces of legislation.
- Awarded our first-ever John William Ward Performance Recognition Award to the OIG’s Regulatory and Compliance Division for their work in moving all MCPPO course offerings online in less than a month to ensure program continuity during the public health emergency.
Additional Resources
Contact for OIG Bulletin, June 2021: Highlights from the 2020 Annual Report
Phone
Open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., M-F
Address
| Date published: | June 9, 2021 |
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