ABAG facing audit

By By J.K. Dineen : sfgate – excerpt

ABAG hearings: State officials are rushing in to get to the bottom of the ABAG scandal. State Controller Betty Yee said Thursday that her office will conduct an audit of the Association of Bay Area Governments’ internal administrative and accounting controls after allegations that a senior official stole $1.3 million.

“As California’s chief fiscal officer, I am charged with protecting state resources,” Yee said. “When public money goes missing, I need to determine how it happened and whether effective controls are in place.”

The audit will initially focus on fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14. If investigators discover accounting weaknesses that may have affected earlier years, the audit may be expanded.

Yee’s office has sent a letter to ABAG asking that the association fork over any and all relevant documents — including ledgers, contracts, invoices, personnel records, meeting minutes, policies and procedures.

The audit work will begin Feb. 20 and is expected to take a few weeks… (more)