Department of Defense's Translation and Interpretation Management Services: Audit of Costs Incurred by Mission Essential Personnel, LLC

Crowe identified six material weaknesses and two significant deficiencies in MEPs internal controls, and nine instances of noncompliance with the terms of the delivery orders. Specifically, Crowe found that MEP did not obtain prior authorization from the INSCOM contracting officer before awarding 14 subcontracts, resulting in $53,536,881in unsupported costs. Additionally, MEP could not provide adequate supporting documentation to verify that the linguists hired cleared the security screening process. Crowe also noted that MEP overcharged the government $177,378 as a result of currency conversion errors. Furthermore, MEP hired an unlicensed private security company that may have overcharged the government for security costs.