Oklahoma investigation finds leaders grossly negligent in management of pandemic relief funds

A newly unsealed multicounty grand jury report in Oklahoma found mismanagement of millions of dollars in the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER).The report stated that they found a “grossly negligent handling of federal grant money” and misspending of $40 million leaving the citizens of Oklahoma unable to get the help they truly needed.“Nevertheless, we find the grossly negligent handling of federal grant money and utter lack of internal controls and oversight over the grant-funded initiatives to be irresponsible, disappointing, and indefensible.What’s more, the waste and misspending of millions of dollars in emergency aid was easily preventable.

This mismanagement prevented the most vulnerable Oklahomans from getting help they desperately needed during a global pandemic.Citizens deserve more from their Government,” the jury said.The report claims there were other troubling practices and actions, but ultimately there was no sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed.“Although our investigation uncovered deeply troubling practices and actions (and inactions) by the state offices, non-state entities, and private individuals tasked with establishing and administering the BTG and SIS initiatives, we ultimately find insufficient evidence exists to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a crime was committed.

Nor do we find willful or corrupt misconduct or willful malfeasance,” the report stated.The report highlighted that the grand jury ultimately found a majority of the issues resulted from the state’s disregard of existing administrative safeguards, “EKCO Director’s authorization of all integrated vendors on the platform effectively disregarded all internal control options offered by the Company.” It went on to point out that as a result, “no limit was placed on the items families could purchase with BTG funds in the first instance, and nobody was monitoring purchases to ensure t...