Auditors support case against Amethyst Research, Inc. resulting in $645,000 settlement

DCAA's Operations Investigation Support Division (OIS) supported an investigation with the Defense Criminal Investigation Service (DCIS). Amethyst Research, Inc. (ARI) agreed to pay $645,000 to settle fraud allegations from the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of NASA and the DoD.

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated reports of questionable transactions charged against DoD contracts and NSF awards throughout 2010 to 2012. The transactions involved personal expenses reclassified as payroll and overhead expenses. Personal living expenses were funded through another company and charged to the United States Government as consulting and lobbying costs billed to ARI.

DCAA's OIS supported this investigation by thoroughly reviewing completed audits and determining additional areas of mischarging to consider. OIS also calculated potential harm to the DoD by preparing schedules and a timeline of key events for the case. The team provided additional details including consulting agreements and prepared draft discovery responses from the DCAA Legal team, identifying applicable contractual regulations, and helping in the settlement process.