Inspector General Robert P. Storch announced today that the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) released the “Report Of Investigation: Mr. Michael Cutrone, Former Principal Deputy and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs,” which addresses misconduct allegations against Mr. Cutrone. 

The DoD OIG newsletter summarizes our reports and investigations released in the previous month and provides updates regarding our oversight activities.

Inspector General Robert P. Storch announced today that the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) released a report on the “Audit of the DoD’s Implementation and Oversight of the Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Program,” which highlights concerns regarding the implementation of the DoD CUI Program. 

The DoD Hotline received a complaint against Mr. Michael Cutrone, former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (ASD[ISA]) on December 15, 2020. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSD[P]) referred two anonymous complaints against Mr. Cutrone to our office on December 17, 2020. In general, the complaints alleged that Mr. Cutrone’s bullying and demeaning behavior towards his subordinates created an abusive and toxic work environment.

The purpose of this memorandum is to notify you that we plan to begin the subject evaluation in June 2023. The objective of this evaluation is to determine whether the DoD effectively provided contested mobility requirements and training for personnel supporting the DoD’s surge sealift mission in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) area of responsibility. Specifically, we will review the required sealift skills and competencies, and the availability of training for personnel operating in a contested mobility environment. We may revise the objective as the evaluation proceeds, and we will also consider suggestions from management for additional or revised objectives. We plan to perform this evaluation in accordance with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, “Quality Standards for Inspection and Evaluation.”

The objective of this audit was to determine the extent to which the DoD developed guidance, conducted training, and oversaw the implementation of the DoD Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Program. We also reviewed a sample of documents that were identified by the DoD Components and contractors as containing CUI to determine whether the documents had CUI headers and footers, a designation indicator, and portion markings as required by DoD guidance (referred to as the required markings throughout this report). CUI is information created or possessed for the Government that requires safeguarding or dissemination controls according to applicable laws, regulations, and Government-wide policies. We will continue to explore opportunities for additional oversight on the implementation of the DoD CUI Program.

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Wilson Che Fonguh, age 41, of Bowie, Maryland, yesterday to 63 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for conspiracy, for transporting firearms with obliterated serial numbers, and for smuggling firearms and ammunition from the United States to Nigeria. Judge Bennett also ordered Fonguh to pay a fine of $25,000. Fonguh was convicted of those charges on May 6, 2022, along with codefendants Eric Fru Nji, age 42, of Fort Washington, Maryland and Wilson Nuyila Tita, age 47, of Owings Mills, Maryland, after a two-week trial.

Deeana Burr, 54, of Charleston, South Carolina, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that Burr, a licensed nurse practitioner who became a 15% co-owner of Atlantic Coast Integrated Medicine (ACIM) in September 2017, participated in scheme to defraud Medicare and TRICARE by submitting claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) and certain procedure codes.

Three additional individuals have been charged with conspiracy to steal United States property from Anniston Army Depot (ANAD) in an ongoing investigation, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Southeast Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Darrin Jones, Defense Logistics Agency Office of the Inspector General Deputy Inspector General Jerold Unruh, and United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent in Charge D. Todd Outlaw.