The Nation - News from June 15, 1989

The Justice Department is investigating allegations that a low-level accountant manipulated a bill-paying system to steal about $1 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Denver regional office, the Washington Post reported, citing HUD officials and sources. The Denver case comes at a time when HUD is investigating or is under investigation for influence-peddling in a housing program and for improper diversions of millions of dollars from property sales. A team of HUD auditors will travel to Colorado next week to prepare a systemic review of the cash accounts there and determine how susceptible that office and other offices are to such loss, said Mary Brunette, the top aide to HUD Secretary Jack Kemp. Douglas Turner, an operating accountant in the Denver office, has been accused of directing payments from the U.S. Treasury into his bank account.