SIGforum
County DA’s office looks into missing $1.2M of purchases
October 16, 2017, 02:28 PM
IcabodCounty DA’s office looks into missing $1.2M of purchases
He was stealing over $130,000 a year. Plus it was a food item apparently not on the menu. I'd start looking for his partners. Somebody in the system was helping him.
“ The work of destruction is quick, easy and exhilarating; the work of creation is slow, laborious and dull. October 16, 2017, 02:36 PM
Sig2340quote:
Originally posted by Icabod:
He was stealing over $130,000 a year.
Put another way...
Assuming he actually physically toted the fajitas away once a week (52 times per year) and assuming the fajitas wholesale at $5.00 per pound, he was stealing
510 pounds of fajitas per week!!How in the Hell didn't someone notice he was putting a quarter ton of stolen food into his vehicle?
Nice is overrated
"It's every freedom-loving individual's duty to lie to the government."
Airsoftguy, June 29, 2018
October 16, 2017, 02:36 PM
Scoutmasterquote:
Originally posted by JALLEN:
If government employees with responsibility for the conduct of those they supervised lost their jobs or faced criminal charges in appropriate facts, this might be a lot less common.
It’s the job of everyone in the purchasing chain to verify what they are approving is legit.
Handling money is simple but it requires diligence.
IIRC some years ago a San Francisco public school CFO retired, but sent bogus invoices for consulting, amounting to tens of $Thousands a year, for a number of years (which were paid). He knew the holes in the system and how to get around them. When uncovered, the district execs were asked what changes they would make to prevent such abuse in the future. Well, er, uh, we don't anticipate any changes.
"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it....While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it"
- Judge Learned Hand, May 1944 October 16, 2017, 03:10 PM
JALLENCarlo has to answer for Sonny.
Capishe?
Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.
When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown October 16, 2017, 03:21 PM
rscalzoI see a mass public demonstration coming demanding fajitas be put on the menu.
October 16, 2017, 03:27 PM
Bisleyblackhawkquote:
Originally posted by Icabod:
He was stealing over $130,000 a year. Plus it was a food item apparently not on the menu. I'd start looking for his partners. Somebody in the system was helping him.
Probably somebody in the portable shitter business
...
********************************************************
"we've gotta roll with the punches, learn to play all of our hunches
Making the best of what ever comes our way
Forget that blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition
Plowing straight ahead come what may
And theres a cowboy in the jungle"
Jimmy Buffet
October 16, 2017, 04:29 PM
maxdogThe procurement process should require a 3 or 4 way match involving different people. The kitchen guy that originally requisioned the food should not be the same guy who placed the purchase order(purchasing). The guy who receives the shipment and confirms receipt by signaturees. should be another guy. The auditor employee who cnfirms receipt and releases payment should be a different person. That way, the DA has a paper trail and can prosecute those who falsified info or who failed to verify dispostion of material. The same guy shouldnt do more than one process. It's harder to commit fraud when more than one miscreant has to participate.
Bet this is what happened: Detention ctr complained about having to itemize each commodity on a requisition sheet because it "took too long". They got approval from com court not to itemize. A blanket or open PO contract was established. Kitchen was allowed to place verbal phone orders against contract with no itemized release or requisition. Someone in kitchen had the authority to OK payment without verfying receipt of items because no line item record existed and process did not involve separate verification process. Purchasing bid out contract and awarded to best bids based on evaluation of commodity pricing.At some point kitchen was given authority br com court to place orders against contract. I hope the Purchasing Director protested this procedure. Dept. Heads often try to get approval to do their procurement without being under scrutiny of Purchasing dept. Our Jail was required to itemize every purcahse and verify receipt independently by more than one person.
Juvenile det ctr food was provided by outside vendor who staffed and prepared meals based on state and Fed regs for nutrition. Independent nutritionist performed surprise inspections to ensure food in compliance.
October 16, 2017, 04:51 PM
Snapping TwigFrom Roman times:
Qui custodes?
Who guards the guards?
October 16, 2017, 04:53 PM
GeorgeairVacations and illness are the two best time to catch scheming employees. I've done it twice, one where a guy was buying a PC a year on our dime, other when they had been repaying a 401(k) loan out of the company's pocket.
You only have integrity once. - imprezaguy02
October 16, 2017, 05:54 PM
cne32507You can bet the delivery driver wasn't in on the scheme....but should have been. Then he would have made the customer deliveries himself.
October 16, 2017, 06:57 PM
Sunset_Vaquote:
Originally posted by a1abdj:
quote:
It was their responsibility.
When it comes to our government, wasting
Spending is one of the largest problems.
Couldn't help it.
美しい犬
October 16, 2017, 07:01 PM
Scoutmasterquote:
Originally posted by maxdog:
The procurement process should require a 3 or 4 way match involving different people. The kitchen guy that originally requisioned the food should not be the same guy who placed the purchase order(purchasing). The guy who receives the shipment and confirms receipt by signaturees. should be another guy. The auditor employee who cnfirms receipt and releases payment should be a different person. That way, the DA has a paper trail and can prosecute those who falsified info or who failed to verify dispostion of material. The same guy shouldnt do more than one process. It's harder to commit fraud when more than one miscreant has to participate.
Bet this is what happened: Detention ctr complained about having to itemize each commodity on a requisition sheet because it "took too long". They got approval from com court not to itemize. A blanket or open PO contract was established. Kitchen was allowed to place verbal phone orders against contract with no itemized release or requisition. Someone in kitchen had the authority to OK payment without verfying receipt of items because no line item record existed and process did not involve separate verification process. Purchasing bid out contract and awarded to best bids based on evaluation of commodity pricing.At some point kitchen was given authority br com court to place orders against contract. I hope the Purchasing Director protested this procedure. Dept. Heads often try to get approval to do their procurement without being under scrutiny of Purchasing dept. Our Jail was required to itemize every purcahse and verify receipt independently by more than one person.
Juvenile det ctr food was provided by outside vendor who staffed and prepared meals based on state and Fed regs for nutrition. Independent nutritionist performed surprise inspections to ensure food in compliance.
Thanks, makes a lot of sense. I teach college accounting in Silicon Valley. Internal Control is the topic coming up in the next two weeks. This will be an excellent example of what can go wrong.
"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it....While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it"
- Judge Learned Hand, May 1944 October 16, 2017, 07:19 PM
Sig2340This arrest put a steak through the heart and an arroz thru the knee of a criminal enterprise.
Nice is overrated
"It's every freedom-loving individual's duty to lie to the government."
Airsoftguy, June 29, 2018
October 16, 2017, 09:52 PM
maxdogScoutmaster, another issue is the dept"frequently exxceeding their line item budget". Most purchasing software systems provide ways to build in limits. For instance requiring requistions for all purchases allows for a budget check. To order an item, a dept must enter the items on a requisition form. If no money available, then no requisition can be generated as the software will not permit it. No money, no laundry. To get money, dept must go to auditor for a line item transfer of funds. Auditor has to get permission in Commissioner's Court during public meeting of court session, thereby subjecting offending dept head to possible inquisition in public by court members as to why budget line exceeded. Makes for transparency. I also instituted use of NIGP codes which is a commodity coding system so dept cannot use office supply budget to purchase something not an office supply item. Prevents dept from transferring fund around and encourages them to submit realistic budget ay beinning of fiscal year.
If there's a will there's a way but a well designed system will eventually catch the thief if rules followed. I saw a lot of different scams in my career in materials management. If you have questions about private or govt procurement and contracting for your class, feel free to contact me. I'll try to help.
This issue caught my attention. I was hired by a Texas county to "clean up" a broken purchasing system and establish a procurement system that complied with the law, was transparent, auditable and saved taxpayer money. Breaking up years of established "relationships" and " brother-in-law deals took several years and the support of some "honest" elected officials. What a ride it was!
October 16, 2017, 10:12 PM
JALLENMy guess is that over the years, all the paperwork came to be seen as a source of delay, unnecessary activity, getting sign offs when the signer was on vacation, on a trip, out sick, etc., necessary commodities were delayed, children starved, and corners began to be cut, then scrapped for efficiency. Loopholes! Opportunities!
Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.
When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown October 16, 2017, 11:08 PM
maxdogOne should always be flexible and have an emergency or expedited procedure available. I found that if they are willing to expend some effort, they usually had a valid reason to ask to circumvent the rules. One especially popular request was to ask that an item be supplied by a sole source, which sometimes meant a favorite or " connected" friend. I asked that they justify the purchase in writing and advised them that if I ever ended up in court being quizzed by the AG or DA I would be able to provide their justification, which I was sure was truthful and would keep us out of the jail time required for violating competitive requirements. I also tlod them that I would submit to com court for approval. That usually stopped the request. People were always willing to tale some effort for Serious and justified requests and I was always happy to expedite a solution for valid reasons.
For others, I would simply ask them to meet and discuss. I was always reasonable if request was legal and ethical and under pressure from a deadline. Of course, some folks figured out that they should wait until the last minute in order to make it an urgent situation.then I would kick it to the cc court to approve if the amount exceeded mt statutory authority.
The red tape in government is crippling. Much of it exists because someone , somewhere, was dishonest or lazy. I spent much of my career trying to figure out how to streamline procedures despite redtape. Red tape hurt my dept's efficientcy too.
October 17, 2017, 04:42 AM
nhtagmemberquote:
Originally posted by Sig2340:
You can say it's a wrap, but the cops found ain't the whole enchilada yet. He bean stealing for a long time. More news tamale.
boo hiss
nice one
[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC
October 17, 2017, 05:03 AM
r0guequote:
Originally posted by ElToro:
Dude had been pilfering 130k+ Per year of stolen goods and nobody noticed for 9 years ?!
130k tax free is like what 175k pretax ? Plus his cushy government job ? Does he still get to keep his pension ?
$1,000 a month,.. $250 a week, $50 a day... in a busy cluttered budget in a busy, cluttered hectic workday. Physically, that's one, maybe two boxes of fajitas I guess.
I blame the auditors personally. When you have many tasks, focus is drawn to the highest priority and what the brain believes is ok/normal IS ok/normal (for sure)... right? So, not knowing anything about this instance, I'll give benefit of the doubt and say that those in the institution were all victims. But the friggen auditors should have caught it, no? They're paid for this purpose, and should have no competing priorities when servicing this client.
