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Línea Directa

REPORTAR FRAUDE, DESPERDICIO O ABUSO
Agosto 25, 2010
2010-AT-1011
ig1041011.pdf

We audited the Puerto Rico Department of Housing’s (Department) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME). We selected the Department for review as part of our strategic plan based on the results of a previous audit of the Department’s HOME program that disclosed instances of HOME-funded activities with slow progress. The objectives of this audit were to determine whether the Department’s HOME-funded activities met program objectives and whether the Department had adequate controls and procedures to ensure that HOME-funded activities met program objectives. This is the second of two reports on the Department’s HOME program.

The Department did not have adequate controls and procedures to ensure that HOME-funded activities met program objectives. It disbursed more than $4.4 million for ineligible expenditures and activities that failed to meet the HOME program objectives, disbursed more than $9 million for activities that reflected slow progress without assurance that the activities would generate the intended benefits, and failed to reprogram and put to better use more than $7.9 million in unexpended HOME funds for activities that were not carried out or terminated. As a result, HUD had no assurance that funds were used solely for eligible purposes and that HOME objectives were met.

We recommend the Director of the San Juan Office of Community Planning and Development require the Government of Puerto Rico or its designee to reimburse the HOME program more than $4.4 million for ineligible expenses and activities that failed to meet program objectives, and reprogram and put to better use more than $7.9 million in unexpended funds for activities that had not generated the intended benefits. The Director should also require the Government of Puerto Rico or its designee to establish and implement controls and procedures for its HOME program to ensure that HUD requirements and objectives are met.

We also recommend that the Director of the San Juan Office of Community Planning and Development determine the eligibility of more than $9 million disbursed for projects with signs of slow progress, reevaluate the feasibility of these activities, and recapture any shortfall generated by the closure and deobligation of funds associated with terminated activities that do not meet statutory requirements for the timely commitment and expenditure of funds.