Audits Reveal Waste in L.A. County Departments. Auditors in Los Angeles County recently released a report documenting 101 cases of fraud that occurred from June through December of 2009. The cases were discovered after auditors reviewed calls made to the county's fraud hotline. The hotline generates about 500 tips every six months.
Some of the findings:
· An employee in the Department of Public Social Services obtained personal and confidential information for 82 welfare recipients. The information was obtained during home visits to the recipients and from the department's computer systems. The employee, Trang Dinh, reportedly used the information to file fraudulent income tax returns and refunds totaling $100,000.
· Los Angeles County's Beaches and Harbors and Library departments paid $842,000 for custodial and janitorial services that were never performed. The departments had a contract with a phony company. When the fraudulent contract was discovered, the owner of the "maintenance company" was arrested and convicted of a felony. He has been ordered him to pay back the county.
· Three county Fire Department officials played golf during work hours, but claimed a full work day on their time card. One official went as far as to claim overtime. Two of the officials were not disciplined. Previous employee regulations allowed employees to report a full work day as long as the employee worked at least one hour.
· Fire Department Deputy Chief Helen Jo received a reprimand for hiring one of the county official's future sons-in-law. According to the audit, Ed'ward Rhone was overpaid and received more benefits that most new employees are entitled to. Since the audit was performed, the employee was transferred to a more demanding position to justify his pay. (Source: Los Angeles Times, May 27.)
Cal-TaxReports, June 1, 2010
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