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 "The Inspector General Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-452, 5 U.S.C. Appendix 3), as amended in 1988 (P.L. 100-504), established the Office of Inspector General for Amtrak to consolidate existing investigative and audit resources into an independent organization headed by the Inspector General (IG) to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness; and to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse. Subsequently, the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 (P. L. 110-409) amended and strengthened the authority of the Inspectors General." Amtrak's IG reports to the President and Chief Executive Officer of Amtrak, with an independent reporting relationship to the Board of Directors and the Congress.  His role is similar to that of the chief audit executive of a large corporation, educational institution, etc.   The IG is required to provide an independent report to the Board and the Congress on the findings of his audit and investigative teams, which are made up of a variety of professional persons.  Many of them have advanced degrees across a wide spectrum of disciplines, including engineering, accounting, finance, law, IT, etc.  If the IG suspects improper behavior on the part of any member of the management team, he is authorized to report it directly to the board and, if necessary, the Congress.  Independence is a key element in any auditing and investigative organization.  Amongst other things it helps insure objectivity in what is audited, how it is audited, and how the audit findings are reported.   Amtrak's IG is subject to periodic peer reviews.  This means that its work as well as its work processes are evaluated by an outside organization, usually an independent auditing firm, although in the case of the government it could be the GAO. I worked for several Fortune 500 corporations for nearly forty years; 22 of them were as an Audit Manager, IT Audit Manager, and Director of Internal Audit.  I know a bit about how audit work is performed. Although I don't have any personal knowledge of Amtrak's audit and investigation methodologies, I have met many government auditors at audit and fraud management conferences.  My discussions with them have led me to believe that they follow the same methodologies that we followed in the corporate world.  Here is how it generally works in all large audit departments.   Audits are placed on the annual audit plan, after a risk assessment, and assigned to an audit manager. They are usually performed by an audit team, which is led by a senior auditor, who is assisted by one or several associate and junior auditors.  Senior auditors in large organizations, e.g. Amtrak, usually have more than 10 years of experience as well as the educational credentials mentioned above.  The audit is executed according to a carefully structured audit plan.   Throughout the course of the audit the work is reviewed at least weekly by the senior auditor, who in turn discusses the progress of the audit with the audit manager. Each fact uncovered during the audit is verified by one of the other team members, as well as the senior auditor, and if necessary by a specialist, i.e. IT auditor, legal specialist, etc. At key points in the audit the work is reviewed thoroughly by the audit manager and, as a rule, the results of audits in progress are summarized for the IG.   Finally, when the audit is completed, it is reviewed by the audit manager, and it may be reviewed by the IG. In any case, the IG will be kept informed of the results as the audit progresses.  After review by the audit manager, the results are presented to the client for his or her comments.  If they don't agree with the findings, providing they have sufficient evidence to refute them, additional audit work may be performed or the initial findings may be changed.    Once everyone is in agreement with the results of the audit, a report is generated.  It contains the major findings of the audit, management's comments on the results, including agreed upon actions to implement the auditor's recommendations, and a detailed description of the audit methodology.  A copy of the audit report is sent to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. Moreover, at least twice a year the IG's activities are summarized for the Congress. The point of this discussion is to refute the notion that Amtrak's Office of Inspector General is not professional, i.e. uses slipshod methods, makes the numbers come out the way Amtrak's management wants, or slants its findings for political or media reasons, as suggested in a number of posts to this thread, is wrong.
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