An investigation by The Seattle Times into the King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) revealed significant alleged fraud in how King County is handling taxpayers’ dollars.
King County Executive Girmay Zahilay joined “The Gee and Ursula Show” to address the questions the hosts, the show’s audience, and the public at large have regarding weak oversight and potential mismanagement of millions of dollars in homelessness and human services funds.
“I would say that, absent some actual bad actors, I think the overall issue is a systemic failure, which is that during the pandemic, King County received lots of new resources from the federal government,” Zahilay said. “This was a time of emergency, and we made conscious decisions to get dollars out of the door as quickly as possible, because people were in crisis, right? People needed rental assistance, people needed…
MANAGEMENT & CULTURE (THE “TONE AT THE TOP”)
Fraud thrives in “sloppy” environments where leadership ignores the rules.
- The Fraud Triangle: For fraud to occur, three elements must be present: Pressure (the need for money), Rationalization (thinking “I deserve this”), and Opportunity (weak controls). You can only control the Opportunity.
- Whistleblower Hotline: Provide an anonymous way for staff to report “odd behavior.” Most internal frauds are caught via tips, not audits.
- Background Checks: Conduct credit and criminal record checks for all employees in financial or data-sensitive roles.
- Annual Ethics Training: Make sure every staff member knows that the company has a Zero Tolerance policy toward “borrowing” from petty cash or fudging overtime.