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Audit Finds Security Firm Overbilled Miami-Dade

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 9, 2008

MIAMI - A security firm that contracted with Miami-Dade Transit overbilled the agency more than $6 million for time its guards did not actually work, according to a county audit released Thursday.

The audit of Wackenhut Corp. found numerous discrepancies between attendance records and substantiating documents such as log books and activity reports during a three-year period.

It appeared Wackenhut did not have sufficient personnel to fully staff all posts, but it still billed the agency as though security officers "were on duty when, in fact, they were not," Miami-Dade manager George Burgess said in a memo to county leaders.
Law enforcement officials have been notified of the findings and are investigating whether any criminal wrongdoing took place, Burgess said.

Wackenhut disputes the way the county calculated the figures.

"We believe this is completely erroneous," spokesman Bruce Rubin said. He said the extrapolation of billing and payroll data "defies logic."

"This is a classic example of when you start with a false pretense, you end with a false conclusion," Rubin said. The company plans to work with auditor Cathy Jackson and show her documents she may not have seen, he added.

The county has given Wackenhut 90 days to respond to the findings and repay the sum, otherwise its contract could be canceled. The company has held the transit contract since 1989; the most recent contract extension was worth up to $17 million a year.

Palm Beach Gardens-based Wackenhut lost its contract protecting 10 nuclear power plants after guards at one facility were caught napping late last year.

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