Investigative Report

Lee County Port Authority

Alleged Misuse of Privileged Parking

Inspector General Department

LeeClerk- 0
RG
LINDA DOGGETT: CLERK OF COURT

TimParks, Chief Internal AuditOfficer/Inspector General

 Public Integrity Unit Investigative Report
LCPA Privileged Parking Misuse

Date: March 25, 2019

To: The Honorable Linda Doggett, Lee County Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller
From: Tim Parks, Chief Internal Audit Officer/Inspector General
Subject: Case File #2019.03, Investigation of alleged privileged parking misuse

Dear Ms. Doggett:

The Inspector General Department has completed an audit/investigation of alleged privileged

parking misuse at the Lee County Port Authority (LCPA). There were complaints lodged against
a contract employee accessing privileged parking at Southwest Florida International Airport
(RSW) because of his family relationship with the LCPA Contract Manager.

We reviewed transactions, policies, procedures, and practices regarding the allowed access of
privileged parking at RSW, and we substantiated that the individual did access parking in
violation of LCPA policies and procedures. The findings were reported to executive management
at the LCPA, and the matter was handled in conformance with the LCPA Code of Ethics.

Management’s response is attached to this report. We would like to thank management and staff
for their time, assistance, and cooperation.

This report will be posted to the Lee County Clerk of Court’s website under Inspector General
Investigations. A link to the report has been sent to management and appropriate parties.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Tim Parks, CIG, CIGI, CIA

Chief Internal Audit Officer/Inspector General
Inspector General Department
TJP/GK
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LCPA Privileged Parking Misuse (~
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 2 
Allegations ...................................................................................................................................... 2 
Background ..................................................................................................................................... 3 
Investigative Actions ...................................................................................................................... 3 
Scope of Investigation..................................................................................................................... 4 
Investigative Methods ..................................................................................................................... 4 
Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 4 
Status ............................................................................................................................................... 6 

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Public Integrity Unit Investigative Report
LCPA Privileged Parking Misuse (~
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Executive Summary

The Lee County Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller, Inspector General Department’s (IG)
Public Integrity Unit received an allegation regarding potential fraud, waste, and abuse at the Lee
County Port Authority (LCPA). An anonymous tipster submitted a complaint to the IG
Department on November 22, 2017, alleging preferential treatment provided to a Triangle
Services, Inc. (Triangle) employee because of his relationship with the LCPA Contract Manager.

There was a second complaint made as of December 14, 2017, alleging the same preferential
treatment; plus other abuses regarding the contract between Triangle and the LCPA. There were
a number of allegations in the complaint that were subsequently rolled into investigation
#2018.13 on May 21, 2018. That investigation turned into a criminal referral to the State
Attorney on July 12, 2018.

As of the date of the original complaint, there was an on ongoing internal audit of the Standard
Parking (SP) contract with the LCPA. SP manages the parking services at Southwest Florida
International Airport (RSW). It was decided that the audit scope would be expanded to review
privileged parking as the starting point for a possible fraud, waste, and abuse investigation.

Allegations

Allegedly, the LCPA contract manager’s son was an employee of Triangle, and he accessed
privileged parking in the RSW garage. Employee privileged parking is accessed by assigned
transponders. The initial complainant said in part:

 He is the son of an airport boss, and he gets to park in the parking lot rather than the
employee lot. It is undeserved preferential treatment.

The second written complaint added the following:

 He also got to park in the garage when we had to ride the bus.

IG Department management decided to allow the scheduled internal audit to proceed as planned
and subsequently act upon any red flags of fraud, waste, or abuse that were detected during the
  
audit process.

The IG Department reaches one of the following three conclusions for each allegation at the
conclusion of an investigation:

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 Substantiated: The allegations are validated and there are sufficient case-supporting
materials to justify a reasonable conclusion that the actions occurred, and there were
violations of law, policy, rule, or contract.
 Not Substantiated: There are sufficient case-supporting materials to justify a reasonable
conclusion that the alleged actions did not occur, or there were no identified violations of
law, policy, rule, or contract.
 Neither Substantiated nor Refuted: The allegations are not validated and there are
insufficient case-supporting materials to prove or disprove the allegations.

Background

The LCPA Code of Ethics includes in part:

 “It is the policy of the Lee County Port Authority through the Board of Port
Commissioners ("Board") that all Port Authority employees are expected to conduct their
professional and personal lives in a completely ethical, truthful, and honorable manner in
all dealings with the public and other Port Authority employees.
 No employee shall use or attempt to use his or her position, or any property or resource
which may be within his/her trust, to secure special privileges, benefits, or exceptions for
himself/herself or for others.
 Where a question arises concerning whether or not any activity conforms to the Code of
Ethics, the Executive Director, with advice from the Deputy Executive Director –
Administration and the Port Authority Attorney as needed, shall decide the question.”

Privileged Parking Guidelines include in part:

 (Employees may) “Not loan or assign the parking privilege card/transponder to anyone.”
 “The parking privilege card/transponder can only be used to allow one vehicle into the
parking facility at a time and this vehicle must be transporting you at entrance and exit.”

Investigative Actions

The complainant(s) alleged in part that the LCPA Contract Manager’s son worked for Triangle,
and he was allowed privileged parking because of their relationship.

The investigative strategy became:

 Since review of the parking services contract was initially assigned and started as an
internal audit, it was decided to complete elements of the fraud, waste, and abuse

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investigation within the scope of the audit.

 The assigned internal auditor would obtain the necessary documentation to perform an
analysis of privileged parking usage.
 The internal auditor would retain the documentation and analysis in the internal audit
project workpapers.
 The IG and internal auditor would analyze findings and case supporting materials from
the internal audit, and apply applicable information and documentation to the
investigation project file.
 The IG Department would timely report findings to LCPA administration if the allegation
were substantiated.

Scope of Investigation

This investigation specifically focused on the allegation that an LCPA manager’s son was
working for a third party vendor, and the son was receiving privileged parking at RSW because
of the family relationship.

Investigative Methods

Records Review:

Tests were made regarding individuals who had multiple transponders for entry to the parking
garage at RSW. Parking in the garage is limited to fee paying customers and certain individuals
that are allowed privileged parking access at no charge. It was determined that the Contract
Manager possessed three transponders for his personal usage.

Data from 2017 and 2018 was obtained to analyze the usage of the three transponders. It was
determined that two transponders were regularly used during the same dates and at overlapping
times. Since the Contract Manager was the only authorized user of the three transponders at any
given time, the simultaneous use of a second transponder was unauthorized.

The employment record of the Contract Manager’s son was obtained from Triangle Services,
Inc. It was determined that he was employed by Triangle from June 2014, to September 2017.

Conclusions

Per the two complaints received by the IG Department:

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The LCPA Contract Manager’s son was an employee of Triangle, and he was allowed
privileged parking – Substantiated: Case supporting materials indicate that the Contract
Manager’s son was employed by Triangle, and he did have transponder access to privileged
parking at RSW in violation of LCPA policies. The Contract Manager had three transponders
assigned to him. Two of the transponders were regularly in simultaneous use for access to the
RSW parking garage.

From the Audit of LCPA Contract Administration, Standard Parking (#2017.17):

“The Inspector General (IG) Department received an anonymous allegation of misuse of

parking privileges by an LCPA employee. The internal auditor reviewed the specific guidelines
governing privileged parking and the parking activity associated with this employee.

An examination of transponder activity revealed that multiple vehicles registered to the same
LCPA employee were often parked in the garage simultaneously. Access to the short term
parking facility was gained through the use of privileged parking transponders. Both vehicles
were noted as exiting short term parking using their respective transponders. These actions are
inconsistence with the following guidelines.

Privileged Parking Guidelines:

 ‘Users may not loan or assign the parking privilege card/transponder to anyone.
 The parking privilege card/transponder can only be used to allow one vehicle into the
parking facility at a time and this vehicle must be transporting you at entrance and exit.’

Our findings were communicated to LCPA executive management and on April 4th 2018,
management timely confirmed the misuse of privileged parking. Management has implemented
the corrective action listed below. The employee reimbursed LCPA $1,188 for the loss of
revenue.

Recommendation: We recommend that privileged parking guidelines be revised to limit the

issuance of privileged parking to only one registration vehicle and a single transponder.”

The IG, Deputy IG, and Senior Internal Auditor met with LCPA management on March 12,
2018, regarding the allegation of privileged parking abuse. Per the LCPA Code of Ethics,
violations of policy of this nature are handled administratively by the LCPA Executive Director
and the Deputy Executive Director of Administration. They subsequently determined that two of
the three assigned transponders needed to be turned in by the LCPA Contract Manager, and they
determined that there were 66 occurrences within a 14 month period.

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The Contract Manager paid $1,188.00 to LCPA to reimburse for parking revenue that was not
recognized due to misuse of the transponders. Payment was made on April 6, 2018 and
confirmed by the IG Department.

Status

This investigation is closed.

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MEMO TO: Tim Parks
Chief Internal Audit Officer/Inspector Gener
Inspector General Department

FROM: Gary E. Duncan

Deputy Executive Director,
Lee County Port Authorit¼ r

DATE: March 22, 2019

SUBJECT: Case File #2019.03, Investigation of alleged priviledged parking misuse

As stated in my October 31, 2018 response to the Internal Audit Report #2017 .17, Contract Administration:
On-Site Parking Operations, relative to our Privileged Parking Program, my response was:

Authority staffhas revised the privileged parking guidelines and implemented the recommendations to
limit the issuance ofprivileged parking media to a single transponder. Immediate actions were taken to
address the reported activity to the satisfaction ofsenior management, who consider the matter closed.

Per Case File #2019 .03, my response is the same as stated in my memorandum dated October 31, 2018.

Thank you for the opportunity to furnish comments once again on this matter.

cc: Jeff Mulder, Executive Director