Washington, D.C. – Over two dozen staff members from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), including many serving long tours in Afghanistan, were recognized Thursday for outstanding achievements at the 18th Annual Inspector General Community awards ceremony.
Awards honoring SIGAR included the Sentner Award for Dedication and Courage, which was presented to SIGAR staff members Chris Borgeson, Phillip Cousin, Matt Dove, Melissa Hermes, Michael Janiga, Steven Mocsary, and Martin Wilson in recognition of courage, uncommon selflessness and dedication to duty in conducting audit and investigative work in a kinetic environment to support the Afghan government in developing revenue collection capability leading to long-term sustainability. This is the fourth time, and third straight year that SIGAR has been awarded the prestigious Sentner award. Since Congress created SIGAR in 2008, the agency has been honored by CIGIE with 18 awards.
“I could not be more proud of SIGAR and the work we have accomplished over the last year,” said Special Inspector General John F. Sopko. “In many ways, we are ‘the little agency that could.’ Our staff work tirelessly as one of the last remaining oversight presences in a truly challenging environment, and it is a real honor that their outstanding work is being recognized by their peers.”
The awards were presented by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) in a ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building Amphitheatre. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch was the keynote speaker.
Other SIGAR award recipients Include:
- AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INVESTIGATION to Lindy Savelle, Timothy Jones, Danny Min, Scott Skinner, and Adrienne Todd in recognition of outstanding achievement in successfully mitigating fraud related to nearly a billion dollar Afghan fuel contract, resulting in immediate action by Afghanistan’s president, and saving over $200 million of U.S. government funds.
- AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INVESTIGATION to Randez Hadden in recognition of successfully conducting a joint-agency investigation, leading to the recovery of $31.5 million to the U.S. government due to false billings and overcharges for Afghan goods.
- AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE - SPECIAL ACT to George Buzby, Chuck Botwright, Mark Hamel, Murtaza Bahrami, Chandresh Mamlatdarna, Dawn Reposky, Jay Rollins, John Schenk, Emmett Schneider, Anthony Smith, Gwenn Toops, and Lisa Williams in recognition of extraordinary initiative in identifying gaps in financial audit coverage of Afghanistan reconstruction contracts, resulting in potential recoveries exceeding $100 million of U.S. government funds.