The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico published the result of the investigation into a referral related to the billing to the Department of Education for photojournalism workshops offered to students of 95 schools from 2015 to 2016. This project was funded with federal funds from the Title 1 Part A Program.
The investigation revealed that the contractor prepared and submitted invoices and their supporting documents with false information to justify the collection of $1,752,297 prior to the formalization of a contract on December 2, 2015 or for services not rendered. The documents submitted by the contractor were not the original invoices that the providers sent for collection, but documents with false information prepared by the corporation.
The auditors of the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico identified that, before formalizing the contract, the teachers had already offered 862 workshops, the workshop instructors 797 workshops, and 352 transportation services were recorded from the students' home school to the host school of the workshops. From December 2, 2015 to January 16, 2016, the contractor billed 466 workshops in addition to those offered by the teachers and 397 in addition to those offered by the workshop instructors.
In addition, the investigation revealed that contrary to what was stated in the contractor's invoices to the Department of Education, no workshops were offered during instructional hours and the services were not offered on the days and hours indicated by the contractor in its invoices. Several teachers interviewed also indicated that personnel of the contracted corporation completed the heading of the attendance records with the date and time of the workshops.
These situations may have constituted crimes such as aggravated illegal appropriation, fraud and ideological falsehood classified in the Penal Code of Puerto Rico (Act 146-2012). In addition, it violates the Code of Ethics for Contractors, Suppliers and Economic Applicants of the Executive Agencies of the Commonwealth (Act 84-2002), among others.
The results of this investigation were referred, on September 27, 2021, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to the Federal Department of Justice, to the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Education, and to the Department of Justice of Puerto Rico, so that they may carry out the appropriate processes.
The Result of this investigation dated March 15, 2022.
See the Result of the investigation RIQ-DIE-22-04.
To see other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.
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