The King County Office of the Ombuds released a report earlier in May that takes a deeper look at a 2025 audit performed on a narrow range of contracts overseen by the King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS). This report comes after the King County Auditor’s Office said that DCHS has made “significant progress” on audit recommendations to increase accountability and oversight.
The ombuds will refer observations from the new report that indicate “possible fraud, forgery, or attempted theft of funds” to law enforcement and send the report to the Washington State Auditor’s Office for an additional layer of review.
However, while the review process has taken about a year and a half so far, neither the original audit nor the ombuds’ report have proven that any fraud has taken place – although several vendors failed to fulfill contractual obligations to document their…
Investment fraud targets the human desire for financial growth by promising high returns with “low to no risk.”
- Ponzi Schemes: Named after Charles Ponzi, these schemes pay “returns” to earlier investors using the capital brought in by newer investors. There is no actual underlying business; the system collapses when new recruitment slows down.
- Pyramid Schemes: Similar to Ponzi schemes, but participants are usually required to sell a product or service. The primary “profit” comes from the recruitment fees of new members rather than actual product sales.
- Pump and Dump: Fraudsters spread false, positive rumors about a cheap stock (the “pump”) to drive up the price. Once the price peaks, they sell their shares (the “dump”), leaving other investors with worthless stock.