CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An audit of former Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s final 18 months in office turned up irregularities in 10 areas, including lack of internal controls over purchasing and fuel cards, non-compliance with internal travel policies, improper reporting of employee income and lack of internal controls over collection of revenues.
The audit spanned July 2011 to Jan. 14, 2013.
The audit was requested by current Attorney General Patrick Morrisey after he took office in January 2013. A spokesperson for Morrisey said the office is working on internal controls to correct deficiencies found in the audit.
The audit found some “unusual or higher-priced” items including two catalytic converters and two copies of Rosetta Stone language courses were purchased during the audit period. Auditors were not able to locate a Canon EOS Rebel T21 DSLR camera purchased for nearly $580, the audit report said.
The legislative auditor found that of 343 transactions, 82 percent totaling more than $68,000, were found to have been out of compliance with written internal procedures.
Among them, 19 transactions totaling $4,460.86 had no supporting documentation for purchases made at Sensel Signs, Tiger Direct, Lowe’s, Amazon, Xyron and Wal-Mart, the audit report said.
More than $4,000 was spent at Nuway Cleaners, Pennington’s Auto Care, The Paint Shop, Classic Chocolates and Young’s Flowers without an itemized receipt, according to the audit report.
Ten transactions had illegible receipts or improper documentation. Totaling more than $1,400, the money was spent at Wal-Mart, Office Max, Tiger Direct, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Amazon, the audit report said.
The audit report noted that all the purchases could have been legitimate, but that could not be determined without the proper documentation.
Two transactions for flowers totaling nearly $600 were called “either extravagant spending or unallowable…