A facilities-improvement fund at the Long Beach convention center lacked “key internal controls” to safeguard millions of dollars in public money, according to an accounting firm hired by the city to examine the fund after a whistleblower’s allegations of lax oversight and wasteful spending.

In a summary of its findings released last month, the firm said bookkeeping for the fund had deviated so markedly from industry-standard accounting practices that it was “difficult to evaluate” whether money was being spent and tracked properly at the city-owned facility.

The firm of Macias Gini & O’Connell concluded that, for more definitive answers, Long Beach would need to initiate a broader evaluation of fund expenditures and the assets purchased, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in furniture for the convention center.

City officials, however, rejected the expansion, calling it unnecessary and too costly.

Instead, city staff have said they relied on their own observations and representations by the convention center’s private operator to conclude that purchases were appropriate, according to a review of public records and multiple interviews performed by the Long Beach Post.

Officials say controls over the fund have now been tightened.

The city’s decision to limit the scope of the inquiry drew criticism from the whistleblower who sparked the financial review. Paul Falzon, the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center’s former finance director, said the move...

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