State Auditor Pat McCarthy notified Gov. Jay Inslee and the state Legislature today that the Office of the Washington State Auditor will begin two special examinations of the significant fraud and loss of public funds at the state Employment Security Department.
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State law requires local governments and state agencies to approval in writing from the State Auditor’s Office (SAO) and the Attorney General’s Office for settlement or compromise of any claim arising from misappropriation. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions to help you navigate this requirement.
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Criminals, suspected to be part of an international crime ring, have targeted the state’s Employment Security Department and are filing fraudulent unemployment claims using the names and personal information of real people to steal public money. Here are a few questions and answers regarding this fraud.
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The Camas-Washougal Economic Development Association resisted audits for years, lost public funds and lacked even basic financial documentation since its inception, the Office of the Washington State Auditor found in two reports issued today.
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In December, we published the results of Washington’s largest public fraud investigation on record. This week, the person we identified as having misappropriated $6.9 million from a local government was indicted on federal charges.
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Today, the Office of the Washington State Auditor released its report on a major fraud investigation involving the Pierce County Housing Authority. The State Auditor’s Office investigation found nearly $7 million in misappropriated public funds, which is the largest case of its kind on record for a Washington local government.
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It is common practice to use automated clearing house (ACH) systems to pay state and local government employees and vendors. However, frauds associated with ACH systems are rising dramatically, particularly for direct deposit paychecks.
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To meet stakeholders’ needs and increase transparency, going forward SAO will report all fraud investigations through a public report that will be published on our website. In the past, smaller losses had been reported to management in a letter rather than in a public report.
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Today the Office of the Washington State Auditor released a pair of reports regarding King County Drainage District 5: a fraud investigation and a new type of report identifying the district as “unauditable.”
The Office also published an online guide to more than 35 other small local governments that have failed to file any public financial information for years, rendering them unauditable.
A “bank sweep” is a process where you check with financial institutions to make sure no bank accounts exist for your organization that you aren’t aware of.
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