The state auditor's office received nearly 5,000 complaints of improper activities by state employees on its whistleblower line in 2009 and nearly 900 of them warranted more detailed investigation, the office said in its annual report today.
The reports and investigations were winnowed down to 11 "particularly significant" cases, including that of a Department of Industrial Relations investigator who misused $70,105 in state resources for her private safety instruction career for six years. She resigned during an internal followup investigation, and the department is determining whether to seek restitution.
Other problems outlined in the report include:
A supervisor in a Department of Water Resources field office improperly took $1,840 in stock car race tickets -- including a three-day trip to Florida for the Daytona 500 -- from a vendor that he had signed up as a department supplier.
A supervisor at the Herman G. Stark Correctional Facility made two psychiatric technicians perform clerical work for two and half years, wasting $110,797 in state funds by underusing the workers.
The full report is available here.
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