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The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation of the Port of Seattle, following a state audit that found its construction projects wasted $97.2 million in taxpayer money.
U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sullivan in Seattle and his criminal division chief, Robert Westinghouse, announced the probe in a letter Friday to state Auditor Brian Sonntag, whose office conducted the review. The letter asked Sonntag not to publicly name anyone who provided information for the audit, for fear of compromising the investigation.
"We welcome it because it shows the Justice Department takes our work seriously," Sonntag said Monday. "I don't welcome it because I don't like to see these kinds of things happening."
Sonntag's office released an audit last month identifying $97.2 million in "unnecessary costs" run up during projects, including the construction of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's third runway. The audit found that the port sometimes broke state law by letting costs soar beyond bids for the work, that it must do more to protect public money from "misuse, abuse and misappropriation," and that it should hire a chief procurement officer to oversee the awarding of contracts.
Port Chief Executive Tay Yoshitani issued a letter to the public on Monday insisting that the port did not "waste" the $97.2 million, and explained why he disagreed with the audit's calculation. He added that the audit did uncover ways to better the port's operations.
His letter did not address the Justice Department's investigation.
"Let me be clear - we welcome and embrace most of the performance auditor's recommendations," Yoshitani wrote. "I don't want our disagreement with the claim for wasted funds to diminish our commitment to developing better policies and procedures."
Westinghouse said the U.S. attorney's office in Seattle had no comment beyond the content of the letter it sent to Sonntag.
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