There’s a section on the website of the Washington state auditor’s office titled Who Audits the Auditor? The answers on the page are the National State Auditors Association and the Washington State Office of Financial Management, but the list should maybe also include the FBI and the IRS, whose investigation has led to a 10-count indictment against Democratic state auditor Troy Kelley for tax evasion and theft. The feds allege that Kelley stole from property buyers between 2003 and 2008 via a real estate services company he owned called Post Closing:
The real estate companies would withhold up to $150 for those fees, which then went to Post Closing, but there were agreements that Post Closing would only charge around $20 per transaction, with the remainder of the money to be refunded to the buyer.
The indictment alleges that, in most of those cases, Kelley kept the entire fee, resulting in a theft of up to $2 million.
Kelley, who’s taken a leave of absence, denies the allegations and says he is “very confident” that he will be able to prove his innocence.
Aside from the ultimate determination of Kelley’s guilt or innocence, another question remains unanswered, which is: Who will audit the auditors who audit the Washington state auditor?
