Audit: Fishery cops misspent federal fine money paid by fishermen on cars, boats, travel
By APThursday, July 1, 2010
Audit: Fishery cops misspent fines on cars, boats
BOSTON — An audit has found that federal fishery police misspent millions of dollars in fines collected from fishermen on cars, boats and travel.
The federal audit was commissioned earlier this year after the U.S. Commerce Department’s inspector general found mismanagement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s law enforcement office.
Fishermen have complained about arbitrary enforcement and said the fines amounted to a bounty because NOAA kept the money.
The audit by the accounting firm KPMG of the fund that received the fines as released Thursday. It said NOAA didn’t track the fund, which received $96 million between January 2005 and June 2009.
NOAA said Thursday that it’s taken several steps to increase accountability and improve how the fund is monitored.
