NEW YORK, NY - A scathing audit released by the New York City Comptroller's office revealed that City Hall spent millions in taxpayer dollars to provide unnecessary services to illegal immigrants. The chief concern presented fell under a $432 million no-bid contract that was controversially awarded, despite the comptroller's objections, to the firm DocGo.
As reported by CBS News, the audit found that through the contract with DocGo, approximately 10,000 rooms were paid for in New York and other cities throughout the state to house illegal immigrants that sat vacant and were never used. All told, the "mistake" totaled over $1.4 million in losses over a combined 71 nights between May and June 2023 at such lavish hotels as the Crowne Plaza JFK Hotel, and the Armoni Inn.
Comptroller Brad Lander told the outlet, "It was a big mistake to hire DocGo, and everyone knew it at the time and they did it anyway."
The failures discovered by the audit only started with the hotel mistake and it only covered the timeframe of May to June 2023. In addition, the audit found a full 80% of all the payments sent to DocGo, or $11 million out of $13.8 million, were "undocumented and shouldn't have been paid," per CBS.
The city reportedly overpaid DocGo by $2 million for security contractors and of the 189 hotel rooms inspected by the Comptroller, 80% were missing microwaves and refrigerators, had spoiled food, and roach, bed bug, and rat infestations.
A spokesman for DocGo said the company was "proud" of the services it provided to the city. Lander conversely said the city's handling of the situation is "really is atrocious mismanagement."
As previously reported by Law Enforcement Today in February, an exposé by The New York Post revealed that DocGo's inability to meet its contractual obligation to provide sufficient food to meet the illegal immigrants' needs resulted in the city pivoting to handing debit cards loaded with up to $10,000 per person to the illegal immigrants without any measures to prevent fraud, check ID or restrict use.
Despite the ongoing controversy, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams dismissed the audit as "nitpicking," and insisted that sufficient safeguards were in place to ensure the city was being dealt with equitably. Adams himself deflected to criticizing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for sending busloads of the illegal immigrants to New York and defended the city government's efforts.
Lander responded to the comments telling reporters, "They call it 'nitpicking.' We call it reviewing the invoices to see if the people that are billing you have actually done the work."
As reported by CBS News, the audit found that through the contract with DocGo, approximately 10,000 rooms were paid for in New York and other cities throughout the state to house illegal immigrants that sat vacant and were never used. All told, the "mistake" totaled over $1.4 million in losses over a combined 71 nights between May and June 2023 at such lavish hotels as the Crowne Plaza JFK Hotel, and the Armoni Inn.
Comptroller Brad Lander told the outlet, "It was a big mistake to hire DocGo, and everyone knew it at the time and they did it anyway."
The failures discovered by the audit only started with the hotel mistake and it only covered the timeframe of May to June 2023. In addition, the audit found a full 80% of all the payments sent to DocGo, or $11 million out of $13.8 million, were "undocumented and shouldn't have been paid," per CBS.
The city reportedly overpaid DocGo by $2 million for security contractors and of the 189 hotel rooms inspected by the Comptroller, 80% were missing microwaves and refrigerators, had spoiled food, and roach, bed bug, and rat infestations.
A spokesman for DocGo said the company was "proud" of the services it provided to the city. Lander conversely said the city's handling of the situation is "really is atrocious mismanagement."
As previously reported by Law Enforcement Today in February, an exposé by The New York Post revealed that DocGo's inability to meet its contractual obligation to provide sufficient food to meet the illegal immigrants' needs resulted in the city pivoting to handing debit cards loaded with up to $10,000 per person to the illegal immigrants without any measures to prevent fraud, check ID or restrict use.
Despite the ongoing controversy, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams dismissed the audit as "nitpicking," and insisted that sufficient safeguards were in place to ensure the city was being dealt with equitably. Adams himself deflected to criticizing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for sending busloads of the illegal immigrants to New York and defended the city government's efforts.
Lander responded to the comments telling reporters, "They call it 'nitpicking.' We call it reviewing the invoices to see if the people that are billing you have actually done the work."
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