The King County Office of the Ombuds, an independent organization within King County government, found nearly $700,000 in questionable costs across 16 of the 19 community partners reviewed as part of a 2025 audit into the King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS).
“Waste, fraud, or abuse likely occurred in some cases and cannot be ruled out in others without additional investigation,” a news release from King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn stated Tuesday.
The report, prepared by Bellevue accounting firm Clark Nuber PS, examined compliance concerns related to contracts with community partners in four DCHS youth and diversion programs: Family Intervention and Restorative Services, Liberation and Healing from Systemic Racism, Restorative Community Pathways, and Stopping the School-to-Prison Pipeline.
The review found $690,617 in questioned costs related to stipends…
This category refers to crimes committed by employees or insiders against their own organizations. It is often the most damaging because the perpetrator has authorized access to systems.
- Asset Misappropriation: The most common form, involving the theft of company resources. This ranges from simple “skimming” (taking cash before it’s recorded) to complex schemes involving the theft of inventory or intellectual property.
- Payroll Fraud: Employees may create “ghost employees” on the system, falsify their own timesheets to claim unworked overtime, or divert salary payments to their own accounts.
- Financial Statement Fraud: Management deliberately misrepresents the company’s financial health by inflating revenue or hiding liabilities to attract investors or meet performance bonuses.