Dallas’ top watchdog has uncovered at least $1 million in losses and overpayments in city money, including the salary of an employee also working for Austin.
Dallas paid a vendor $227,000 more than was owed and paid $18,000 on a fraudulent invoice related to nonprofit spending, the city’s inspector general found.
The office of inspector general, which has been investigating potential cases of financial waste and fraud since January this year, is also reviewing additional cases in which the city may have overspent $1.7 million.
Dallas City Hall has been at the center of waste and corruption scandals involving city officials who took bribes to advance housing deals. Former council members have also been charged with embezzling funds and fraud.
It prompted city leaders to establish the inspector general office in 2022, and voters gave the office more independence two years later.
Officials identified “significant financial issues involving vendor billing, payroll, outside employment, overtime, and use of City resources,” said Baron Eliason, the interim inspector general, in a memo ahead of Thursday’s ad hoc committee on general investigating and ethics meeting.
The office’s report showed four employees who were dually employed cost the city $692,000 — the largest loss identified.
That included two IT officials who were under scrutiny earlier this year. Dallas officials told The Dallas Morning News they were investigating two employees who were working for the city of Austin during Dallas work hours. They had received information through the whistleblower tip line in November last year and notified Austin officials.
The Austin American-Statesman reported the two cities investigated the issue in tandem. They compared notes, time and findings to reveal that IT official Hawre Sulaiman was attending meetings, taking calls and sending emails for both cities.