NCJ Number
79435
Date Published
1981
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Tom McBride, who served as Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture, discusses myths concerning the role of the inspector general in the Federal Government, in this videotaped presentation.
Abstract
The office of inspector general within individual Federal Government agencies serves as a watchdog and investigates mismanagement fraud, waste, and abuse in various Federal programs. He examines several misconceptions about the Federal Government and inspector generals. These myths include the following: (1) fraud and abuse are rampant; (2) inspector generals concentrate on employee misconduct cases and department accounts, rather than on serious conflicts of interests and billion-dollar scandals; and (3) inspector generals are really Trojan horses within an agency reporting to Congress. The speaker notes that the poor legislative design of some programs inadvertently invites fraud. Computerized control systems are needed to deter fraud and abuse. Inspector generals from various agencies are trying to work together to develop across-the-board tactics to fight mismanagement and overfunding of programs. The relationship between the General Accounting Office and inspector generals in different agencies is discussed during a concluding question and answer period.