Auditor: State agencies sending checks to deceased former employees

 LINCOLN, Neb.--State officials say thousands of dollars in paychecks were sent to dead Nebraskans last year.

State Auditor Mike Foley said on Monday that an examination of state agencies revealed benefit payments and grants were paid to former employees who were deceased. 

In one case, 13 benefit payments totaling almost $19,000 was sent to a former employee who died in April. Foley says the money has since been repaid, but that his office referred the employee's daughter to law enforcement.

Another problem uncovered by Foley's office was in the form of tuition reimbursement benefits to State workers. Many agencies offer these benefits, with the stipulation of repayment if employment is terminated within a specific time frame. 

Foley's letter revealed over $122,000 in total tuition reimbursements that was never repaid by State employees who left shortly after receiving the allowances. 24 employees of the Department of Correctional Services and 29 employees of the DHHS were found to be part of this situation. 

The Department of Transportation cost the State nearly $14,000 when offering travel and relocation payments to recruit workers that Foley's office discovered.

Foley's office also drilled into expense reimbursements claimed by state personnel. He says one specific brand committee inspector received nearly $93,000 in mileage reimbursement over the course of less than four years. 

"These audit findings, based on sample testing of a much larger population of billions of dollars in transactions, are a sober reminder that we've got to do better," said Foley.