Posted: Tue, Mar 5, 2002, 7:44 AM ET (1244 GMT)
An audit of NASA's budget released last week concluded that the agency's bookkeeping was so poor that independent auditors could not even rule out the possibility of fraud. PricewaterhouseCoopers auditors could not give NASA a clean report because they were unable to obtain the information they needed to complete their report. Auditors found a lack of adequate controls on property and equipment and concluded that the $8.9 billion NASA has spent to date building the space station lacks "validity and completeness", according to the Houston Chronicle. NASA had passed audits in the past, making it and the Federal Emergency Management Agency the only two of 24 audited agencies to show deterioration in performance. NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, asked about this during a Congressional hearing last week, said that tightened auditing standards were largely responsible for the problem, saying that the agency will work harder next year to get the auditors the information they need in a timely manner.
