Maryland auditors found $190 million in pandemic-related emergency purchases by state agencies that lacked appropriate record-keeping and documentation, a new report released Thursday shows.
State agencies made 848 emergency procurements related to the COVID-19 pandemic totaling approximately $1.7 billion across 19 state agencies between March 2020 and May 2021, according to Legislative Auditor Gregory Hook.
Upon reviewing 15 of the pandemic-related emergency procurements, the Office of Legislative Audits concluded that 11, totaling $189.4 million, were not obtained in accordance with state law — and three of them didn’t have formal written contracts.
