|
|
SUMMARY
In October 2005, Pima County administrators requested that
the Office of the Auditor General investigate allegations of potential
misfeasance and misuse of public monies by officials within the Arizona High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) federal grant program. Although the
program is administered by the HIDTA Executive Board, Pima County was the
federally designated grantee to administer the HIDTA program in the Arizona
Region. As a result of Pima County’s request, we conducted an investigation of
those allegations.
Our investigation revealed that from December 2004 through
October 2005, the former Arizona HIDTA Director and former Arizona HIDTA Finance
Manager falsified public records and mishandled grant monies to obtain salary
increases totaling more than $133,000 for themselves and other staff members. In
addition, the Arizona HIDTA Executive Board did not properly oversee the
administration of HIDTA operations and did not ensure that grant resources were
used prudently. Finally, Santa Cruz County, a subrecipient of HIDTA grant
monies, failed to follow any procurement procedures when contracting for HIDTA
administrative services, thereby eliminating all competition and fostering an
unfair economic advantage that benefited former HIDTA administrative staff
Read full report in Acrobat PDF format
|
|
