A whistleblower is alleging wide-ranging misconduct by Anaheim’s top finance official — including enabling fraud that wastes millions of taxpayers dollars, lying to the city council and protecting a known sexual harasser.

In a tort claim filed in early July, former purchasing agent Kari Bouffard alleges she was wrongfully terminated for “engaging in protected whistleblower activity, reporting sexual assault and harassment, exposing procurement fraud, refusing to participate in unlawful contracting practices and addressing severe deficiencies that resulted in costly delays and exposed the city to continuous and significant risk.”

She alleges that Debbie Moreno, Anaheim’s finance director and city treasurer, “violated the public trust, abused her authority, disregarded City Council policies.”

The tort claim, obtained by LAist via a public records request, alleges that Moreno:

• Refused to audit the city’s credit card purchases, which amount to around $800,000 a month
• Covered up that the Fire & Rescue Department bought new ambulances and went to the Council after to seek approval
• Does not follow standard best practices for procurement — no member of the purchasing department had ever written a contract — and instead creates additional, unnecessary processes
• Uses a policy from 1999 to lease computer hardware at inflated prices, bypassing Council approval

All together, the tort claim paints a picture of a city’s procurement department that lacks processes or oversight...

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