OIG

Top 10 Stories of 2012

on Dec 31, 2012 in OIG | 4 comments

The Postal Service faced its own fiscal cliff in 2012 while the larger mailing industry continued to press for reform and innovation. But don’t count mail out just yet. A strong election season reminded many Americans that mail still matters, even in the digital age. And in Europe, one postal operator didn’t let 500 years of history stand in the way of reinventing itself.
Looking over the headlines, the staff at the Office of Inspector General has pulled together the list below of the top 10 postal stories for 2012. After you read them, vote for your top story of the year, or let us know if we missed one.

Holiday Cheer

on Dec 24, 2012 in OIG | 0 comments

Pushing the Envelope wishes our readers a joyful holiday season and a prosperous new year. We will take a break this week, but we encourage you to read over the past year’s blogs and let us know what you think on any of the wide range of topics we blogged on in 2012. We also want to remind you to visit the site next Monday when we will post our list of the Top 10 Stories of the Year. As always, we look forward to your comments and insights.

Over 200 Blogs Strong

on Oct 22, 2012 in OIG | 2 comments

Since the launch of “Pushing the Envelope” in October of 2008, we have been blogging on topics of interest to U.S. Postal Service stakeholders and the general public. We’ve published 212 blogs to date (this one makes 213). Since it is our birthday, we thought we’d take this time to reflect on the last year and to look to the future.

First, thanks to our active readers who provide insightful commentary and food for thought. Your ideas and comments can turn into audit projects, white papers, or even the need to turn something over to our Office of Investigations.

Our top five blogs this last year were:

• Mail Delivery: Are These Steps Unnecessary?
• What’s the Score?
• Why Saturday?
• How Far Does Your 44 Cents Go?
• Who Should Pay for Mail Forwarding?

Top 10 Stories of 2011

on Jan 2, 2012 in OIG | 5 comments

It’s been a year of major changes in the postal world. Looking over the headlines, the staff at the Office of Inspector General has pulled together the list below of the top 10 postal stories for 2011. Take a moment, read them over, and vote for your top story of the year. If you think we missed one, let us know!

10. Another Year, Another Loss – Even with a deferral of the retiree health payment, the Postal Service loses $5.1 billion in 2011, although $3.7 billion is changes to workers’ compensation expenses.

9. To Exigent or Not to Exigent – After federal appeals court remands the exigency case back to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), the Postal Service is still undecided on whether it will pursue higher than CPI rates.

8. Pension Funding in the Black – OPM projects a $13.1 billion surplus in the Postal Service’s FERS and CSRS pension accounts for 2011.

7. DVDs by Mail Not Dead Yet – Netflix is forced to backpedal after customers rail against the company’s plan to unbundle DVDs by mail.

6. GAO Just Says No Overpayment – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) weighs in on the debate about the Postal Service’s $75 billion CSRS overpayment, stating there was no evidence of accounting errors and returning the funds is ultimately a policy choice that impacts the federal budget.

5. Digital Media to the Rescue – Ironically, blogs such as Dead Tree Edition, Courier, Express, and Postal Observer, and Save the Post Office are driving the debate in the area of hard copy postal issues.

4. Is Overnight Over? – The Postal Service proposes changing delivery service standards, including eliminating overnight delivery for First-Class Mail, to capture savings from network consolidation.

3. Plethora of Bills, Paucity of Law – An unprecedented interest in postal reform yields an abundance of legislative proposals, yet still no new law.

2. Cut, Cut, Cut – The Postal Service announces a provocative plan to break labor contracts, withdraw from federal health and retirement plans, and seek workforce reductions of 220,000 through layoffs and attrition.

1. Something’s Got to Give Round 1 – The Postal Service’s aggressive plans to close about 250 processing plants and more than 3,600 post offices hits strong opposition leading to a temporary moratorium on closings until May 15, 2012.

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This blog is hosted by the OIG’s Risk Analysis Research Center.

Our Fourth Year

on Oct 17, 2011 in OIG | 3 comments

Pushing the Envelope is entering its fourth year! So on this annual observance of our birthday, let’s look back at some of the successes of our third year and consider where we hope to take this blog in the next year.

We published our first blog in October 2008, and since that time, Pushing the Envelope has tried to highlight a number of important postal issues for the benefit of postal stakeholders and the public at large. In the last year alone, 1046 comments have been posted in response to topics on our blog.

Introduction to Contract Fraud – False Claims and Statements

on Jul 18, 2011 in OIG | 9 comments

Contract fraud is a big problem for the federal government and quite possibly for the U.S. Postal Service, which currently manages over 20,000 contracts worth $29 billion. Conservative business estimates project up to 5 percent of contracted dollars are lost to fraud, meaning $1.45 billion of Postal Service funds are potentially at risk.

Detecting, stopping, and preventing fraud is a core mission of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and we need your help. We’ll be using this blog to introduce some common fraud schemes and their warning signs. You don’t need special skills or a badge to fight contract fraud — just know the warning signs and alert the OIG when you see them.

Scheme of the Week: False Claims or False Statements

With false claims or false statements, a contractor knowingly submits a fraudulent invoice for payment or approval. This includes over-billing, certifying that a product or service meets specifications when it does not, and providing fraudulent documentation, as well as situations where a Postal Service employee knows a claim is false but processes or authorizes it anyway.

In one case, an OIG investigation uncovered a phantom cleaning business used in a scheme to fraudulently bill the Postal Service for cleaning services never rendered. In another, a Highway Contract Route contractor submitted more than 337 false or fraudulent fuel use certifications, trying to get paid for unused fuel. The Postal Service recovered $970,000 through a settlement with the contractor and refused to pay an additional $284,000 in improper claims.