The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s acting inspector general issued a report highlighting major problems across the agency, from “significant deficiencies” in financial reporting to employees taking bribes for smuggling drugs or approving citizenship applications, says the National Law Journal. In the first six months of the current fiscal year, the inspector general opened 647 new investigations and referred 523 matters for prosecution.
Investigations by the 676-person office resulted in 149 arrests, 90 indictments, and 94 convictions, and led to the recovery of $40.7 million in disallowed costs, plus $14.5 million in fines. It’s been nearly 10 years since President George W. Bush created the 200,000-person agency, which includes the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Secret Service. and the U.S. Coast Guard. Acting IG Charles Edwards said the cobbled-together agency still has a long way to go.