Audit

A federal audit has finally accounted for nearly $6.6 billion in Iraqi reconstruction money that seemed to have disappeared after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, ending a mystery that highlighted the chaos of the early days of the U.S. occupation. The Pentagon flew the Iraqi cash under its control to Baghdad in planeloads of shrink-wrapped bundles of $100 bills in 2003 and 2004. But its failure to keep complete records showing where the money went fueled concern that some or all of it had been stolen.

Despite a concerted effort at Los Angeles City Hall to track the use of taxpayer-purchased fuel, more than $7 million in gasoline and other fuel has gone missing in recent years, according to an audit to be released Thursday. At dozens of city fueling sites, millions of gallons of fuel was pumped without any record of where it went, the audit showed. City Controller Wendy Greuel, whose office conducted the investigations, said some of the unaccounted-for gasoline may have been used for personal vehicles.

SACRAMENTO - The California parks department had accounting problems for longer than previously revealed, according to an audit released Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown's Finance Department, and officials had no plans to spend $3.9 million in unused donations. The audit said department officials had been inaccurately reporting the amount of money in two accounts since at least 1993. That's about a decade longer than finance officials identified this summer, when it was revealed that parks had a hidden surplus of $54 million.

While a state audit released Tuesday found insufficient evidence to prove unfair retaliation against whistle-blowers in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the investigators stumbled on another problem: inadequate control of a $6-million fund. During a news conference, district officials expressed elation that they had been cleared--they used the word "exonerated"--of claims that whistle-blowers were falsely accused of child abuse.

SACRAMENTO — The executive officer of the California State Athletic Commission has resigned, two weeks after being censured for mishandling the finances of the agency that regulates boxing and mixed martial arts in the state, officials said Tuesday. Executive Officer George Dodd notified the board that he would step down effective July 31. His agency has been in turmoil for overspending its budget and is facing a state audit. Last month, the commission censured Dodd "for not adequately informing the commission about the insolvency of the Athletic Commission fund.

Residents are calling for a criminal probe of Caltrans and a local lawmaker wants to spike plans to extend the 710 Freeway in the wake of last week's stinging audit of the transportation agency. Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority are studying whether to build a tunnel extending the 710 from its terminus in Alhambra to the 210 Freeway in Pasadena. Many residents of the area and some nearby cities including South Pasadena, Glendale and La Cañada Flintridge oppose an extension, citing concerns about truck traffic, noise and pollution.

Los Angeles park officials spent $2 million to operate two campgrounds that have been closed for more than 10 years, according to an audit released Wednesday by City Controller Wendy Greuel. Camp Valcrest in the Angeles National Forest and Camp Radford in the San Bernardino Mountains have been closed for the last 13 and 20 years, respectively, because necessary repairs were deferred. But the city Department of Recreation and Parks has paid $2 million for caretakers to live at the camps since they closed and nearly $100,000 for water to be trucked to Camp Valcrest, the audit states.

The San Diego office of Ernst & Whinney has hired the following people: Delnora Clelland, senior manager in the audit department; Doug Obenshain, a manager in the audit department; Don Wagner, a manager in the audit department; Rob Murray, audit advanced staff, and Leslie Zwissler, audit advanced staff. Also added to the firm's professional staff were Debbie Bolan, Dave Brown, Leila Clements, Darby Logan, Don Rady and Julie Shake.

As procrastinators scramble Monday to file their federal income taxes, some who reside in the well-off enclaves of Los Angeles or San Francisco may be bracing for an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. That's according to a new study from the National Taxpayer Advocate, which scoured IRS data to pinpoint five metropolitan areas where small business owners are more prone to dodging taxes. Other top tax-cheating hubs are the District of Columbia, Houston and Atlanta. Communities near the five cities were called out as well.

B Squared Technologies Inc., a Huntington Beach computer systems engineering company, said Tuesday that it has retained a Nevada certified public accounting firm to audit its 1998 and 1999 financial records. B Squared said it hired L.L. Bradford & Co. to handle the audit as a basis for filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.