KOB 4 News is reporting that the Albuquerque Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) has determined that the City of Albuquerque (“COA”) wasted or misused taxpayer funds by producing Joline Guttierez Krueger’s book titled “City at the Crossroads” in 2022.
The book covers Albuquerque’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other major events during 2020, including the COA’s “administrative achievements.” According to the OIG report, the COA spent $97,000 developing the book which has only sold 91 copies since it was published.
The OIG report does not assert that the COA violated its purchasing ordinance or the state’s anti-donation clause, but its findings consider the use of taxpayer funds to promote the COA’s “administrative achievements” to be a waste.
The complete KOB 4 News report may be read HERE.
***A PDF copy of the OIG report, File No. 22-0189-C, may be downloaded HERE.
As reported widely at the local and national level, investigations of alleged fraud and abuse of COVID-19 emergency funds have produced staggering findings.
On June 14, 2023, PBS published a report regarding large-scale fraud by persons using the Social Security numbers of deceased persons and federal prisoners to acquire unemployment checks, with many collecting such benefits from multiple states.
Additionally, federal loan applications were not cross-checked against an existing United States (“US”) Treasury Department database which would have, presumably, raised red flags about questionable borrowers and applications.
The situation led to the greatest grift in US history, with thieves plundering billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief aid. In fact, an Associated Press analysis determined that more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding had likely been stolen, with another $123 billion wasted or misspent – representing a combined loss of roughly 10% of the $4.2 trillion distributed by the US government in COVID-19.
The complete PBS article may be read HERE.
On June 12, 2023, Fortune (known more commonly as Fortune Magazine) also published a report regarding COVID-19 relief aid fraud. The report states that the US government has (as of June 2023) charged more than 2,230 defendants with pandemic-related fraud crimes and was conducting thousands of investigations.
Before leaving office, former President Donald J. Trump approved emergency aid measures totaling $3.2 trillion and President Joe Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan authorized the spending of an additional $1.9 trillion. According to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, never has so much federal emergency aid been injected into the US economy so quickly.
The complete Fortune article may be read HERE.
This writer published a FGGAM article on September 18, 2023 about this very topic. The FGGAM article may be read HERE.
My brothers and sisters, well-meaning intentions notwithstanding, it should have been fairly obvious – human nature being what it is – that the sudden injection of trillions of dollars of “free” money into our pockets during the COVID-19 pandemic would present a clear opportunity for those predisposed (and some who weren’t but didn’t want to be left out) to steal, divert or otherwise misspend these monies.
One thing is for sure, it is unbiblical to lie and steal! Thank God that taxpayer funds were made available for those who genuinely needed help to provide for their families in the face of government-mandated shut downs, medical emergencies, and financial and employment turmoil. Shame on those who knowingly cheated and committed outright fraud for self gain.
The word of God is very clear that we are not to lie and steal.
Proverbs 19:5 (NKJV)
“A false witness will not go unpunished, [a]nd he who speaks lies will not escape.”
1 Peter 3:10 (NLT)
“For the Scriptures say, ‘[i]f you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.'”
Leviticus 19:11 (NKJV)
“You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.”
Romans 13:9-10 (NKJV)
“For the commandments, [y]ou shall not commit adultery, [y]ou shall not murder, [y]ou shall not steal, [y]ou shall not bear false witness, [y]ou shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, [y]ou shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore[,] love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Matthew 9:13 (NKJV)
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Praise Jesus forevermore!