Iraqi Relief Funds and Fraud [Guest Post]

Through the end of Fiscal Year 2011, the United States Congress appropriated $51.4 billion for the relief and reconstruction of Iraq. Congress also commissioned the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) to perform an audit of the expenditures.

SIGIR released a final forensic audit report last Friday. The extent and nature of some of the frauds and waste encountered make it appropriate that the report was released on Friday the 13th. You can access the full report here. My reading of the report suggests a mixed signal. On the one hand, SIGIR finds relatively effective controls over the payment process. On the other hand, SIGIR found several prevalent and serious control weaknesses in the procurement process.

To quote the report: