State Bet On SSA Theft

When bookkeeper Armine Sabatini was charged with siphoning $145,000 from Steamship Authority, nobody at SSA could say they didn't see it coming. A 2008 audit by the state found that the boat line did not "properly safeguard its assets against potential loss, theft or misuse."

One for you, one two for me...

Well, maybe that guy who drives the luggage cart could say he didn't know about that audit. Maybe the local media can say they were all over this story when the audit was released in July of 2008 and followed up to see what changes were being enacted. Never mind them, what does the Authority have to say? General manger Wayne Lamson told the CCTimes that those kinds of warnings are standard audit-speak. Oh, no he didn't! Oh yes he did. Lamson went on to say that, "It’s probably true of any agency that there’s room for improvement.”

It's not like there was one little suggestion in a large overview of SSA accounting practices. The warning is a large, bold headline. VT would argue it is the substance of the document. In the audit, (available here) the Authority did not deny the findings but said they agreed with the importance of a control plan and that they were "working to formally document all..." blah, blah, blah.