Washington, D.C. – Nearly two dozen staffers of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), including many serving long tours overseas, were recognized Friday for outstanding achievements at the 16th Annual Inspector General Community awards ceremony.
The awards included one for courage presented to a SIGAR investigator who helped uncover fraud that put U.S. troops in direct harm from improvised explosive devices (IEDs); other work uncovered millions of dollars in fraud, waste and abuse of U.S. reconstruction funds in Afghanistan.
“SIGAR professionals put themselves on the line every day in Afghanistan to protecting American tax dollars against fraud, waste and abuse,” said Special Inspector General John F. Sopko. “I am very proud of the work they do, and I’m delighted that their work is being recognized and honored by the inspectors general community.”
The awards were presented by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) in a ceremony at Constitution Center Auditorium at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. John Miller, senior correspondent with CBS News, was the keynote speaker.
Awards and SIGAR recipients are:
- SENTNER AWARD to Special Agent Peter S. Hughes, honored for courage and uncommon selflessness in detecting contractor fraud that caused widespread security vulnerabilities that enabled insurgents to place roadside bombs in Afghanistan. The Sentner award recognizes uncommon dedication and courage in the face of adversity, and is named for William “Buddy” Sentner III, a special agent at the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, who was fatally shot in the line of duty in 2006.
- AWARD FOR AUDIT EXCELLENCE to Daniel Chen, Adriel Harari, Jeffrey Itell and Mia Bonarski for audit excellence in identifying actions to prevent the waste of millions of dollars to maintain destroyed or missing vehicles used by the Afghan National Police.
- AWARD FOR INVESTIGATION EXCELLENCE to Special Agent Michael J. Janiga and Special Agent Philip G. Cousin for outstanding undercover work in the investigation of fuel thefts and bribery in Afghanistan; their work led to recovery of fuel, equipment, and money totaling more than $2 million.
- AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES to Nicolas “Nick” Torres, Jenniffer Wilson, Steven Haughton, Christina Andersson, Mia Bonarski, Valerie Kimball, Greg Paige, Special Agent Mike Baird, Special Agent Michael Janiga, Special Agent Philip G. Cousin, Special Agent Peter S. Hughes, Special Agent Michael Earnest, Special Agent Joseph Barlow, Special Agent Brian Cropper, Jake Summerhays, Monica Brym, William Gaertner, Preston Heard, Gabriele Tonsil and Zubair Hakimzada for recognition of exceptional collaboration in conducting audits, investigations, and special projects to prevent waste and theft of billions of dollars in fuel in Afghanistan.