L.A. County auditors find widespread fraud

The L.A. Times reports:

Los Angeles County auditors substantiated 101 instances of fraud during the last six months of 2009, uncovering cases large and small in which taxpayers were cheated, according to a report released Wednesday.

The county's fraud hotline typically receives about 500 tips every six months. The latest report was unusual because it found misconduct that touched the highest levels of the Fire Department and the office of the county's chief executive, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraud.

Fraud hotline auditors said that since July 2009, they found more than 360 tips either to be unsubstantiated or otherwise resolved. As of the end of 2009, more than 630 cases remained open.

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