West Haven Misspent Nearly $893K In COVID Relief Funds: Audit

WEST HAVEN, CT — An independent audit found that West Haven misspent nearly $893,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds, officials announced Friday.

The Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) voted Friday to release the forensic audit, which was conducted by CohnReznick LLP and commissioned by the Office of Policy and Management.

The auditors concluded that about 80 percent of the city’s $1.15 million COVID relief funds “should have been disallowed,” according to a news release.

“Those expenditures, as reported by CohnReznick, were largely the result of either ineligible expenses or a lack of sufficient justification and documentation,” officials wrote in the news release. “Additionally, auditors uncovered significant deficiencies in internal controls, policies, and procedures unrelated to the CRF program which permeate across the local government organization. In several instances, the report highlights conditions which the MARB has previously identified and required the City to take corrective action.

“In addition to meeting today, the MARB will meet in the coming weeks to determine next steps. A corrective action plan will be considered at the next meeting of the MARB.”

The Connecticut Mirror reports that none of the spending reviewed by the auditors was connected to the federal fraud charges against former State Representative Michael DiMassa, who also worked for the city. DiMassa, his wife and two others, are accused of stealing more than $1.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds. However, based on the audit, those funds likely came from state and local taxpayer money, and not federal relief funds, the Connecticut Mirror reports.

Read more at the Connecticut Mirror here.

The full audit report can be found here.