Louisiana has chosen Deloitte & Touche to provide oversight of the state's receipt and delivery of federal aid recovery funds.
Additionally, UHY LLP will provide oversight of financial fraud, corruption and criminal activity detected in the recovery process, and will also act as a monitor of Deloitte.
"We need to insure that people everywhere understand our total commitment to honesty and integrity in this process and our absolute determination to strictly follow federal guidelines and policies to rule out possible repayment issues sometime in the future," said Division of Administration Commissioner Jerry Luke Leblanc, in a statement.
Deloitte will report to the Division of Administration and the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. According to Leblanc, the firms will work together to detect and deter fraud and misconduct in the expenditure of federal dollars, "in a way that complements the work of the Inspector General and Legislative Auditor but does not overlap their work."
Six offers were received in response to the state's request for proposals, and the New Orleans office of Deloitte submitted a proposal citing its extensive experience in other disaster recovery efforts. Deloitte has been involved in accounting work after several Florida hurricanes, and for damage claims after Sept. 11 in New York City, and has worked for the California Earthquake Authority. In its proposal, UHY noted the extensive backgrounds of two of its managing directors in areas of criminal activity and fraud detection and its history involving disaster recovery, including serving as integrity monitors for New York City after Sept. 11.Concerns were raised about the accounting records and oversight implemented during distribution of the first $219 million in disaster relief. So far, Louisiana has received hundreds of millions in cash, and Congress recently approved $62 billion for hurricane relief in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, with more funds expected. Louisiana's congressional delegation is seeking $250 billion just for their state.
