Review of FBI tech project finds millions in questionable expenses

Weak oversight of the FBI's Trilogy information technology modernization project resulted in more than 1,200 missing pieces of equipment worth more than $7.6 million and more than $10 million in questionable expenditures, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

The FBI's process for appraising and authorizing contractors' invoices, in which the General Services Administration also played a role, failed to provide adequate verification that goods and services actually were received, the report said.

"Given the poor control environment and the fact that GAO reviewed only selected FBI payments to Trilogy contractors, other questionable contractor costs may have been paid that have not been identified," the report released Monday stated. "[T]he lack of accountability for Trilogy equipment calls into question FBI's ability to adequately safeguard its existing assets as well as those it may acquire in the future."

The report (GAO-06-306) comes on the heels of last week's announcement that Lockheed Martin Corp. will be the prime contractor for the project's successor, Sentinel.

If the control weaknesses are not corrected, future contracts, including Sentinel, risk being exposed to improper payments, GAO said.

The Trilogy project, initiated in 2001 at an estimated cost of $380 million, was the FBI's largest ever information technology upgrade and was successful in modernizing the agency's IT infrastructure, but failed in upgrading its investigative systems.

The project's costs escalated to about $537 million, milestones were missed and implementation of its investigative application, known as Virtual Case File, was scaled back in July 2004.

Two of the companies partnering with Lockheed on the $305 million six-year contact for Sentinel -- CACI Inc. and Computer Sciences Corp. -- are cited in the GAO Trilogy audit for receiving payments for questionable charges.

These include CACI's $52,000 purchase of 30,000 custom-made ink pens and 30,000 highlighters for Trilogy training sessions, and $3 million paid to an event planning company. They also include CSC's purchase of 19 first-class airline tickets without proper justification, at a cost of $20,000.

CSC said in a statement that the company was pleased to successfully finish installing the Trilogy infrastructure and that last-minute travel changes were necessary because of shifts in the project's schedules and requirements.

All travel and purchase of equipment and services was approved in advance by the FBI and GSA, the company said.

CACI spokeswoman Jody Brown said in a statement that the company stands by its decision to respond to the FBI's requirements and is confident that it took appropriate action.

Science Applications International Corp., the company that received much of the blame for mismanagement of the Virtual Case File project, declined a request for comment.

The GAO report stated that the FBI was able on its own to identify 37 pieces of Trilogy equipment valued at $167,000 that were either lost or stolen.

Other questionable costs and missing assets for Trilogy described in the GAO report included:

• $5.5 million in other inadequately supported direct costs
• $2.1 million in potential labor overcharges
• $1.96 million in inadequately supported subcontractor labor costs
• $400,000 in excess overtime charges
• $49,800 in excessive air travel costs
• $26,300 in duplicated subcontractor labor invoice payments

The GAO report included 27 recommendations intended to help the FBI and GSA improve their invoice review controls, address the questionable billing issues and the help the FBI account for its assets.

The FBI agreed with the GAO findings. GSA accepted all but one of the recommendations, but expressed concern over some of the findings.