THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Virginia got a bargain when the State Employee Fraud, Waste and Abuse Hot Line was set up three years ago.
With an annual price tag of only $100,000, the hot line has saved taxpayers more than $1.3 million.
The hot line was created by executive order of Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, and Gov. George F. Allen wisely extended the agency through 1998.
It works this way: State employees observing waste or fraud phone an 800 number and make an anonymous report. The hot line - part of the state internal auditor's office - sifts through the complaints, investigating some and referring others to auditors in the appropriate departments.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that whistle blowers all over the state used the hot line, revealing waste and fraud in areas as diverse as state colleges and the departments of corrections and motor vehicles.
Surprisingly, the biggest single chunk of wasted dollars was discovered at The College of William and Mary where an auxiliary director was caught running a private accounting firm from his office. The director was fired last April and Virginians saw a one-time savings of $170,885.
As the result of another tip to the hot line, state police are investigating $10,267 in catering money unaccounted for at Norfolk State University.
Top state officials have also been targets of the hot line. Becky Norton Dunlop, the state secretary of natural resources, ceased using capitol police to chauffeur her around Richmond after someone in the know placed a call to the hot line.
The hot line has been averaging more than 1,000 calls a year. If all state government worked as well as the State Employee Fraud, Waste and Abuse Hot Line, there would be no need for it. by CNB