Audit finds $5M in dubious Richmond credit card spending
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The city of Richmond approved roughly $5 million in questionable purchases on employee credit cards over two years due to lax oversight, according to a just-released internal audit.
Why it matters: That's roughly a quarter of all spending in the period through the city's Purchasing Card (P-Card) Program.
The big picture: City auditor Riad Ali's report, published Tuesday, found "significant weaknesses" in the internal review process and general oversight of the P-Card program, which was started in 2018.
- That lack of oversight, coupled with "unclear policies, inadequate training and inconsistent enforcement," resulted in dozens of questionable purchases between July 2022 and May 2024, and the potential abuse of taxpayer money.
- The audit recommended ways to improve the program and noted that the Avula administration is already addressing issues, including by reducing the number of city-issued P-Cards from 320 to 67 in April.
Zoom in: Here are some of the audit's most stunning findings.
- 😓 One city employee was responsible for approving more than 40,000 transactions in the two-year period, which led to "minimal review" due to competing job responsibilities.
- 👀 The city delayed deactivating cards of employees who stopped working there, and in some cases, former workers used their cards months later.
- 📱 Multiple departments spent around $2.4 million via third-party platforms, like PayPal and Venmo.
- 👔 One employee purchased a $480 suit to wear to court.
🍤 And our personal favorite: Of the $78,785 in "questionable food purchases" in the review, $19,648 was spent by the Department of Public Utilities on "large quantities" of food, "including ribs, turkey wings, ham, shrimp, and salmon," per the audit.
- The majority of those purchases were made by one employee at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
What we're watching: The city launched an online tracker last week so the public can follow along as it overhauls the P-Card program.
- The audit has referred the $5 million in questionable purchases to the Inspector General for further review.