Vendor to Pay $500 Million to Avoid Federal Prosecution in CityTime Scandal

We drew attention to this topic in late 2010 in: Big-Time fraud in NYC time-and-attendance initiative then again in T&A in NYC.

Contractor Strikes $500 Million Deal in City Payroll Scandal (New York Times)

A major government contractor agreed on Wednesday to pay a record $500 million to avoid federal prosecution for its role in the scandal-tarred CityTime project, an effort at modernizing New York’s payroll system. The project was plagued by widespread fraud and weak oversight and became a lingering embarrassment for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration.

Under an agreement with federal prosecutors, the contractor, Science Applications International Corporation, will reimburse the city for about 80 percent of the money it spent on the project, whose budget ballooned to nearly $700 million, from $73 million, and was described by the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, as “a fraudsters’ field day that lasted seven years.”

There is a great need to bring modern time and attendance techniques to the operations of cities large and small. The potential ROI is huge.

UK Border Scandal Update: Independent Inspector's Report Published

The UK's border control scandal of last fall is back in the news as John Vine, an independent inspector of the Border Agency, has released his findings (84-page .pdf available at icinspector.independent.gov.uk) An investigation into border security checks.

One of our slogans at SecurLinx is "Identity management is about people," and the shortcomings in the UK border apparatus seem (and always have seemed) to have been failings of management and communication rather than failures of technology and its proper use. That's why we didn't spend much time on the subject last fall (only one post) and why we won't spend much time on it today.

A small part of the story does seem to deal with biometrics, though.

Terror fear as border checks fail (Sydney Morning Herald)

The report also found that biometric chip checks were routinely suspended before the pilot began. Between January and June last year, chip reading was suspended 14,812 times, but the Border Agency was "unable to explain definitively why these suspensions occurred".

Needless to say, biometrics only work if you use them.


In addition to the above referenced story, here is a selection of other coverage:

The Migrant Rights Network thinks this is all being blown way out of proportion.

The Daily Mail (here & here) is less sanguine.

The Guardian does a good job covering the bureaucratic finger-pointing angle.

Scotland: The Herald's Kate Devlin covers it like she's talking to Joe Friday.