Where’s the money?

In an in-depth review of Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s mishandling of the OxyContin settlement, The State Journal has apparently uncovered a significant accounting glitch with McGraw’s so-called “Consumer Protection Fund.”  For its report on the Attorney General’s office, The State Journal requested a copy of McGraw’s current budget for the Consumer Protection Fund, along with a list of all disbursements made from the fund between 2002 and 2008.  There was just one problem…Attorney General McGraw’s office couldn’t provide an accounting of where money from the Consumer Protection Fund went!

The AG’s Office Comptroller, Joe Clay, explained that “there’s just not a print out of who [the Consumer Protection Fund and OxyContin Settlement] was paid to.”  Clay went on to explain that “there’s six months that for whatever reason somebody’s misplaced.” 

Excuse us?  Attorney General McGraw’s office can’t keep track of a single account?  Have they heard of the latest on-line banking options?  Their explanation would be like somebody saying that they can’t account for a single check they’ve written from a personal checking account over a six-year period.  Except that in the case at hand, the Attorney General’s office is unable to account for millions of dollars in state funds. 

Just what exactly do people in Attorney General McGraw’s office get paid to do?  According to state records, Clay draws an $86,000 yearly salary from the State taxpayers, but is unable to provide a general accounting of the Attorney General’s primary account.  Other Deputy AGs appear to be drawing six-figure salaries to serve as spokespeople for McGraw’s political campaign. 

It looks like The State Journal is spot on in its assessment – it’s time for the West Virginia Legislature to put a clamp down on McGraw’s abuses.  How many more millions of dollars do we have to allow McGraw to waste?