Three auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will join three lawyers from law firm Wilmer Hale of Enron fame to investigate, free of charge, the Office of Tax and Revenue in Washington DC after five agency employees were arrested for allegedly defrauding the city of $A20m (₤9.7m).
The team conducting the investigation voluntarily will save the Washington DC council about $US2m. Chris Simmons, PwC chief diversity officer, will be part of the team.
Natwar Gandhi, the city’s chief financial officer, also plans to bring in a five-member audit committee to help his office ‘in reviewing financial reporting processes, internal control systems and compliance with established policies and procedures’, according to The Washington Post.
Gandhi has taken action against 15 employees, forcing the resignation of top managers while other workers have been dismissed or placed on administrative leave after Harriette Walters, manager of the real property tax administration adjustments unit, and Diane Gustus, a real property program specialist with the Office of Tax Revenue, were arrested accused of drafting more than 40 fraudulent refund cheques, averaging $US388,000, since 2004.
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