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发帖数: 29846 | 1 New York Fires Auditor Who Found Abuse of Federal Hurricane Sandy Funds
January 19, 2013 Warner Todd Huston
No good deed goes unpunished in New York as the state has abruptly cut off a
contract with the independent auditor who found that the city and state had
been wasting federal money meant to be spent on Hurricane Sandy recovery
efforts.
Thomas Sadowski, the fired consultant, told the Times Union that he was
escorted out of the building when he visited the New York Office of
Emergency Management shortly after he filed his report on November 17.
The state hired Sadowski for his extensive experience in emergency
procurement management with the federal government. The certified public
accountant also did similar work for 10 years at the U.S. Department of
Interior’s Inspector General’s office. Sadowski also trained the U.S.
Forest Service, Alaska Fire Service, National Interagency Fire Center,
Colorado Wildfire Academy and other government agencies.
“I didn’t believe I did anything to be escorted off the premises,”
Sadowski told the Times Union. “I wasn’t trying to get back at anybody or
get anybody in trouble.” But Sadowski said he believed he was fired for
finding the waste. “I was relieved of my duties because I identified these
problems,” he said.
In his report, Sadowski found that the city was buying equipment it didn’t
need, but had wanted for other purposes, had bought equipment that cannot be
tracked, and even lost some equipments bought.
Sadowski uncovered examples of spending that appeared to take federal money
for things that had no direct connection for Hurricane Sandy. He also found
that credit card purchases weren’t being properly tracked or accounted for.
One specific item Sadowski noted was the $154,000 video communication system
that he felt “wasn’t billable to the Hurricane Sandy” and could not be
delivered until long after Sandy recovery efforts are to be finished. “The
timing of the delivery didn’t fit,” he said.
He also could not find the location of $1 million in kosher meals bought for
Sandy victims and was directly told to stop looking into that expense.
Sadowski said that the department had “lost accountability” of the meals.
State officials say that Sadowski exceeded his authority by conducting an
audit, but Sadowski felt that part of his procurement job included
accounting for and tracking the expenditures.
Sadowski charged the state under $6,000 for his work.
State officials say that Sadowski’s report has been referred to the Office
of the Inspector General. | t**********3
发帖数: 12623 | 2 I bet this guy is a Democrats. |
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