City hall’s mystery fraud

The odds of discovering who is committing crimes against the taxpayers at San Diego’s city hall often seem tilted against the citizenry, as demonstrated by a June 26 fraud-hotline report by city auditor Eduardo Luna.

“The Office of the City Auditor received a Fraud Hotline report regarding a City vendor. The report alleged that the vendor committed fraud during the bidding process and after the contract was awarded. The vendor is currently doing business with the City,” writes Luna. “Our investigation determined that there is sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that the vendor, identified in a confidential report, made material false statements during the bidding process and submitted potentially-fraudulent documents to the City after the contract was awarded.”

But there, as far as the public is concerned, is where the trail currently ends. “A detailed, confidential version of our report was submitted to City management,” the report says, adding that “the Purchasing & Contracting Department and City Attorney’s Office have conducted a thorough, and independent investigation and will proceed with proper notice and action afforded under the San Diego Municipal Code.” The “target implementation date,” and perhaps public release of more information, is August 1.