Government Agency Monitoring Indifference and Hush
posted on: Friday, January 16, 2009
By Gary Snyder
In this second in a series of how contributors or taxpayers are fleeced, we look at government agencies (as opposed to elected officials, which will be dealt with in a subsequent edition).
At the local level, the most recent (and typical) example of city government fraud is the $50 million thievery at District of Columbia tax office corruption case. It’s the biggest embezzlement in the city’s history. The scam: A mid-level manager, taught by her co-workers, took cash and gifts from property owners in return for erasing penalties on overdue taxes, stole refund checks issued to deceased taxpayers and created property refunds with no oversight. This criminal activity went on, unchecked, for 20 years with no checks and balances. The DC tax auditor is also accused of soliciting and taking bribes. A bank manager, who was befriended by the scheme’s mastermind, was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison for accepting $18 million in not legitimate checks, which were converted into cashier’s checks that were distributed to participants of the scheme. A true breach of the public’s trust.
Some very recent similar examples of no supervision are in
Arlington (WA) where a financial director stole over $1.3 million over an eight-year period; Fresno (CA) city planner arrested for misusing millions of dollars; a Minneapolis Medicaid employee embezzled $1,164,071; a N.Y. City records management employee took $9 million; a Springfield accounting clerk stole $1.3 million; a Colorado revenue supervisor diverted $11 million; Southaven County Clerk with over $10,000 from the court and we have documented millions of dollars more embezzled over the years.
In every instance, those that oversee the taxpayers tax dollars have been remiss. Internal controls have failed; if they even existed.
Gary R. Snyder is the author of Nonprofits: On the Brink. He is a frequent lecturer and author of articles in numerous publications and blogs. His email is gary.r.snyder@gmail.com; website: www.garyrsnyder.com, phone: 248.324.3700.
In this second in a series of how contributors or taxpayers are fleeced, we look at government agencies (as opposed to elected officials, which will be dealt with in a subsequent edition).
At the local level, the most recent (and typical) example of city government fraud is the $50 million thievery at District of Columbia tax office corruption case. It’s the biggest embezzlement in the city’s history. The scam: A mid-level manager, taught by her co-workers, took cash and gifts from property owners in return for erasing penalties on overdue taxes, stole refund checks issued to deceased taxpayers and created property refunds with no oversight. This criminal activity went on, unchecked, for 20 years with no checks and balances. The DC tax auditor is also accused of soliciting and taking bribes. A bank manager, who was befriended by the scheme’s mastermind, was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison for accepting $18 million in not legitimate checks, which were converted into cashier’s checks that were distributed to participants of the scheme. A true breach of the public’s trust.
Some very recent similar examples of no supervision are in
Arlington (WA) where a financial director stole over $1.3 million over an eight-year period; Fresno (CA) city planner arrested for misusing millions of dollars; a Minneapolis Medicaid employee embezzled $1,164,071; a N.Y. City records management employee took $9 million; a Springfield accounting clerk stole $1.3 million; a Colorado revenue supervisor diverted $11 million; Southaven County Clerk with over $10,000 from the court and we have documented millions of dollars more embezzled over the years.
In every instance, those that oversee the taxpayers tax dollars have been remiss. Internal controls have failed; if they even existed.
Gary R. Snyder is the author of Nonprofits: On the Brink. He is a frequent lecturer and author of articles in numerous publications and blogs. His email is gary.r.snyder@gmail.com; website: www.garyrsnyder.com, phone: 248.324.3700.
posted by Gary at
2:35 PM
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