Feds Probe FIRE Act Grant Fraud

The Federal government is conducting a major fraud probe into applications and grant awards from the 2002 and 2003 Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act Grant Program, sources confirmed to Firehouse.com Friday.

More than 100 applications may be targeted by the ongoing inquiry, sources familiar with the investigation said. The investigation centers around third-party grant writers hired by many fire departments to assist them or to prepare the applications for them.

The inquiry is being conducted by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service. The "investigation is comprehensive and complicated... and there is a lot to be done," sources said, speaking in terms of a "group" of individuals and departments that are being examined.

Officially, the agencies involved would not acknowledge any specific information while the probe is still ongoing. But sources with knowledge of the situation said it appears that "boilerplate" applications and narratives were submitted by fire departments. The investigation includes examining, in part, the truthfulness and accuracy of the information and those who approved submitting it to the grant program. "There are conspirators and co-conspirators, and associates and all kinds of [individuals and agencies] being looked at," a source said.

During the grant submission process, an individual who may not be a direct member or employee of the submitting fire department - such as a grant writer or other consultant - can complete the online or paper application on behalf of the agency. The agency remains the "applicant" and assumes an official representative has approved the submission.

The 2003 program guidance (PDF), which would have covered at least some of the grants being investigated, states that "one authorized representative of an eligible organization [can] log in and create a user name and password for the organization -- The selection of the authorized representative is at the discretion of each organization."

A new statement appears in this year's program guidance document (PDF), clarifying the role of a grant writer or consultant in the process:

"Departments can hire a grant writer to assist in the application period, but the submitting departments, as the applicant, is responsible for the information contained within. By submitting the application, you are certifying that all of the information contained therein is true and an accurate reflection of your department. Therefore, please review all work produced by grant writers or other third parties on your behalf prior to submission."

In a review of several states' applications in the 2003 program, Firehouse.com found several cases where single individuals were the primary contact for applications of multiple departments, in some cases a dozen or more.

According to sources, checks within the grant application and award follow-up process likely set off red flags, including repetition of similiar information in applications from different departments. "In the course of monitoring activities [federal officials] may have uncovered something that need to be looked at more closely," a source said.

Sources said a number of "questionable" applications being analyzed in the investigation were successful -- and awards were made to those departments based on the applications. It was not clear - should the investigation take the next step to prosecution - what would happen, if anything, to those departments.

Firehouse.com is not publishing names of known individuals under investigation unless formal charges are filed or they are otherwise released by the investigating agencies.

The FIRE Act grant program, now known as the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, began with USFA/FEMA and is transitioning now into the Office for Domestic Preparedness in the Department of Homeland Security. The program has wrapped up its third year, granting over 15,000 awards to fire departments and providing over $1.3 billion directly for their needs during that time. Applications for the 2004 program are being taken now through April 2.

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