Oops: Missouri Lt. Governor Awards Contract to Company Under State Investigation

One of those head-scratchers. According to ksdk.com:

Missouri’s Lieutenant Governor is calling for the immediate cancellation of a state contract after the I-Team exposed an embarrassing issue for Governor Jay Nixon’s administration.

The state awarded the estimated million-dollar contract to Office Depot, a company under investigation for allegations of bait and switch, deceptive pricing, and over-charging. Federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the General Accounting Administration, the Department of Justice and the SEC, have investigations into the office giant.

According to its 2009 second-quarter report, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office Depot is under investigation in Florida, Texas, Missouri, Colorado, California and Ohio.

So basically, the Lt. Governor went ahead and offered a million dollars to a company that was being investigated for fraud…in that state. While the state has halted the contract pending further investigation, it’s still a bit of a black eye for whoever authorized that purchase order.

Oddly enough, Office Depot crusader David Sherwin appears in the article as well, saying basically the same thing. Maybe he should come work for us.

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