Transparency is inspector general’s main goal
Niel Barofsky
So there’s good news and bad news. Obama is making good on his promise of transparency when it comes to distribution of TARP funds via Inspector General Neil Barofsky. The bad news is Barofsky has opened 20 criminal investigations to see whether tax dollars are being misused.
Barofsky is also conducting six audits. He says his goal is to “to inform, bring transparency and make appropriate recommendations.”
Job description
Barofsky has been appointed special inspector to oversee the Troubled Asset Relief Program. He says he wants taxpayers to understand where their money is going. He has detailed his concerns in a 250-page report.
Barofsky says he will expose any weaknesses in the TARP that could invite fraud.
TARP overview
TARP is mainly used to buy up defaulted personal loans and other bad accounts and assets that are hampering financial institutions. The 20 investigations Barofsky has opened could potentially lead to criminal charges if they find tax dollars are being pilfered or wasted.
What are the charges?
The investigations specifically address whether decisions about how TARP funds were awarded were influenced by people who stood to benefit from them. He is also looking into whether companies that received bailout funds are adhering to the policies regarding executive pay caps.
Additional duties
Barofsky has also compiled a list of recommendations for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and other officials involved with implementing the TARP.
His recommendations include requiring companies to report their usage of TARP funds. To me, this is a bit confusing because I thought they were already required to do that. Let’s hope this is just a reminder. Another recommendation is that officials should “safeguard a new mortgage rescue effort against scams.” Amen!
I’m surprised someone hasn’t been appointed to a post of this manner from the very get go of the TARP program. Never mind that it seemed like a scam from the very beginning, but that’s splitting hairs. The banks we gave that money to had better have run tight ships with it.