*A recent audit by Comptroller Brad Lander has exposed significant issues with the city’s $432 million no-bid contract with migrant services firm DocGo, revealing extensive misuse of taxpayer funds.
The audit, covering the first two months of the contract in May and June 2023, found that nearly $11 million of the $13.8 million paid to DocGo was improperly billed for unused hotel rooms and uneaten meals, and lacked adequate documentation, New York Post reports.
Lander criticized the city’s oversight, highlighting that payments for various services were inflated or undocumented and that oversight of subcontractors was minimal. The audit revealed that over $9 million of the payments went to unapproved subcontractors and projected that, if similar errors occurred throughout the entire contract, overpayments could reach $134.4 million.
The audit also questioned DocGo’s qualifications, noting its lack of experience in emergency housing. Although Lander had previously rejected the contract, his objections were overridden by Mayor Eric Adams. The audit follows complaints about DocGo using unlicensed security guards and mistreating asylum seekers.
“I just frankly am really shocked by how little scrutiny there was,” Lander said during a press conference Tuesday. “They did not carefully scrutinize, as far as we can tell, any of the invoices.”
Lander, who recently announced he would be challenging Mayor Eric Adams in the 2025 Democratic primary, has been accused of using the audit for political gain.
Adams’ office defended the city’s actions, arguing that during a humanitarian crisis, urgent needs were prioritized over paperwork.
“At the height of an unprecedented international humanitarian crisis, workers from across the city government were called upon to take swift, decisive action to meet this defining moment with compassion and care for others,” a mayoral spokesman said.
“As mothers needed baby formula and health care workers needed supplies, we put people’s wellbeing before paperwork.”
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) admitted to some initial mishandling of the contract but disputed the audit’s characterization of their actions.
DocGo defended its performance, stating it successfully managed a complex emergency and served 32,000 asylum seekers. The company stands by its role in addressing the migrant crisis.
Lander said the HPD’s “…failure to review the invoices seriously just represents a really callous disregard for taxpayer dollars.”
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