Law enforcement agencies will be reviewing allegations of possible “fraud, forgery, and attempted theft of funds” tied to King County, Washington grant programs after an independent review uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable spending, altered records, and major oversight failures inside the county’s Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS).
A report released Tuesday by the King County Ombuds Office flagged approximately $690,000 in “questionable costs” connected to 19 contracts involving youth diversion and community-based programs funded through DCHS. The contracts accounted for roughly $12 million in grant funding.
The review, conducted by accounting firm Clark Nuber, examined records between December 2025 and April 2026 and concluded there was evidence suggesting that “waste, fraud or abuse” likely occurred.
Among the most serious findings were concerns involving altered documents, forged or inconsistent paperwork, unsupported reimbursements, conflicts of interest, and weak oversight practices that allowed problems to continue for years.
According to the report, investigators identified questionable spending involving alcohol purchases, cash withdrawals, travel expenses, vehicle repairs, and invoices that lacked sufficient documentation. Some expenses reportedly had missing receipts or records that could not be verified.
The report also raised concerns that some nonprofit organizations receiving taxpayer money used unreliable financial records or submitted inconsistent documentation while still receiving county reimbursements.
“The issues identified in this evaluation point to broader weaknesses in DCHS’s reimbursement oversight and community partner monitoring,” the Clark Nuber report stated. “Inconsistent enforcement and reliance on unsupported or unreliable records allowed risks to persist across multiple partners and fiscal years.”
Investigators further warned that rapid growth in county grant spending during and after the COVID-19 pandemic increased the risk of fraud and abuse.
King County’s grant funding reportedly expanded from roughly $922 million during the 2019–2022 biennium to more than $1.8 billion by 2023–2024. The report stated that pressure to distribute money quickly, combined with “equity-centered” grant expansion efforts and weak internal controls, created significant vulnerabilities.
The Ombuds Office said portions of the report would now be referred to law enforcement and the Washington State Auditor’s Office for further review.
“In addition, we will refer to law enforcement those specific observations within Clark Nuber’s report that indicate possible fraud, forgery or attempted theft of funds,” the report stated.
The findings echo concerns previously raised by King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn, who warned during an interview on The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI that the county’s weak oversight systems were creating conditions ripe for abuse.
“Of course there’s fraud,” Dunn told Hoffman at the time, arguing that the scale of spending combined with weak safeguards made misconduct inevitable.
Dunn also warned that county leaders appeared more focused on rapidly distributing money than ensuring proper oversight, describing what he viewed as “a culture of sweeping under the rug or deliberately hiding details” inside county government.
The findings also add to a growing list of oversight failures across Washington government agencies.
State audits previously found more than $1.3 billion in childcare spending through DCYF was unauditable between 2021 and 2024 because of missing records and weak controls. Separate audits identified $37 million in questionable childcare payments, while auditors recently warned Washington’s school funding system faced a “high risk of catastrophic failure” due to outdated infrastructure and inadequate safeguards.
