Update: DOJ OIG Audit of OJP Tribal Victim Assistance Grant Results in Repayments of $353,721
Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today that the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians (Soboba) of San Jacinto, California, recently repaid $353,721 in crime victim-related funding to the DOJ as a result of a DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) grant audit. In recognition of these repayments and other corrective actions taken by OJP, the OIG has closed all six recommendations from its audit.
The OIG’s April 2014 report assessed an Office of Justice Programs (OJP) grant to improve Soboba’s ability to provide services to victims of crimes such as child abuse, homicide, elder abuse, driving while intoxicated, and gang violence. During the audit, the OIG found weaknesses in the areas of expenditures, matching, reporting, and program performance and accomplishments, and we determined that Soboba’s records were commingled and inadequate to determine if it had accomplished grant objectives.
Since the audit, Soboba has repaid the federal government $356,950 to address the portion of its grant expenditures for which it could not furnish appropriate support or demonstrate the accomplishment of grant objectives. In addition, OJP has taken steps that address the OIG’s other recommendations, including working with Soboba to implement significant improvements to Soboba’s internal controls over accounting records, payroll expenditures, and the preservation of supporting documentation.
The OIG’s April 2014 report is available on the OIG’s website at the following link: https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2014/g9014002.pdf.
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