The Arizona Auditor General says the state Department of Housing wired $2 million to fraudsters because state officials did not have a policy to prevent scams.
The gaffe is part of a new report saying the Housing Department can’t evaluate its own work on affordable housing despite a spending commitment of more than a billion dollars.
The fraudsters reportedly posed as members of a title company and a nonprofit the Housing Department was working with to buy property for affordable housing.
State officials wired them $2 million in June of 2023, but found out months later that the money actually went to scammers.
Then the Housing Department was slow to tell the Auditor General, which is still investigating the incident.
Insurance paid for the loss.
In a response, the Housing Department director said that new policy details how to securely obtain and verify bank instructions for wire transfers.
Read the Auditor General's report
Read the ADOH's response
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