A new audit issued by Erie County's comptroller implies the possible abuse of county-issued gas cards to employees. But the county executive says no such cards even exist.Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw says his findings show the cards used by current county employees contain the names of fired and former employees. The county's top fiscal watchdog says a large number of cards are assigned to the wrong worker and only one person is directly in charge over the entire gas card system.
“There is a troubling lack of controls in the county’s gas card system. It is extremely vulnerable to threats of fraud, waste, and abuse. The lack of ‘checks and balances’ needs to be addressed immediately," Mychajliw said, in a statement.
County Executive Mark Poloncarz says he hasn't have a chance to review the audit. But he told reporters the county does not use gas cards.
"Erie County doesn't issue gas cards, so I'm not certain what he's talking about. Maybe he did a different municipality, but it wasn't Erie County," Poloncarz said Wednesday.
Poloncarz has 30 days to respond to the audit findings. He says the audit was released to the media before it was given to his office.