"Evidence of improper practices" has prompted the legislative auditor to send a rare "218" letter to the governor and each state legislator alerting them that "the integrity of the fiscal records" of Nevada Division of Wildlife is "in question."

The 218 letter, so named because Nevada Revised Statute 218.880 requires the auditor to send it when he finds evidence of improper or illegal administration, was sent May 1 to Governor Bob Miller, the legislators NDOW Administrator Willie Molini and Conservation and Natural Resources Director Pete Morros

The letter, signed by Legislative Auditor Gary Crews, states "Our audit of the division noted many instances of improper financial administration."

Among other findings, the letter states that more than 300 game tags from the 1996 draw were missing. "Since 1993, certain refund checks have been written by the contractor that have not been formally reported to the division ..resulting in a $97,000 overstatement of wildlife revenues through June 30, 1997. Further, our audit noted the 1996 big game tag inventory has not been reconciled as of March 31, 1998 Over 300 1996 tags have not been accounted for"

NRS 218.880 requires a letter be sent to the attorney general in addition to the governor and legislators if evidence of illegal transactions is uncovered However, Crews' letter makes no mention of a copy being sent to Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa.

Because the letter is "confidential," Steve Wood, chief deputy legislative auditor, declined to say whether a copy had been sent to Del Papa. "I'm not so sure I'd be able to answer that, " Wood said. "We're bound by confidential statutes relative to the letter."

Use of the 218 letter is not uncommon, Wood said. "We run across findings in most of our audits, but the use of the 218 letter is infrequent."

Details of the audit won't be made public until it is released, "probably in several months," Wood added.

In a letter to the State Board of Wildlife Commissioners dated May 4, Molini wrote that the audit "did not find any money missing or any fraud, but they felt that our oversight of the financial end of the drawing was not sufficient."

All but two of the missing game tags also have been located "through a manual process," Molini wrote.

Crews' letter also states that his audit "identified inadequate fiscal records regarding the division's control and accounting for the game draw bank account. For instance, the division does not require nor maintain adequate cash control records. In an attempt to investigate the status of the account, we identified a

$40,000 cash variance Because of the variance, we requested the division to reconcile the difference. The division had to adjust several key accounting records in attempting to explain this variance. Some of the adjustments affected information previously provided to us. For example, the outstanding check list was modified by about $20,000 Because of the nature of those changes, the reliability of the final reconciliation and the integrity of the fiscal records is in question "

"On the $40,000 cash variance," Molini's letter to the wildlife commission concludes, "We provided reconciliation documentation to the auditors which reduced that amount to $122 out of $37 million However, the auditors were dissatisfied with the amount of work which was necessary for getting this reconciliation."

In an interview with the Associated Press, Morros said the audit is wrong in citing the $97,000 "overstatement of wildlife revenues." The conservation department director told AP he had seen the balance sheet and the funds were accounted for.

If the audit is wrong, Hunter Alert President Cecil Fredi said, then three previous audits also were incorrect. "Failing another state audit is like deja vu all over again for Willie Molini," Fredi said. "This is the fourth audit he has failed miserably, so failing another one is all in a day's work. The real question to ask is why Gov. Bob Miller, Sen. Bill Raggio and Willie's boss Pete Morros have been protecting Willie from all those failed audits.

"The 218 statute is used when there are improper practices or illegal transactions," Fredi added. "This alone tells you how serious these violations are. It's time for Frankie Sue to stop protecting and start prosecuting a mismanaged state agency."

Nevada Hunters Association President Gerald Lent said Crews' letter marked the first failed audit he had heard of "so blatant they have to notify the legislators." He described the letter's reference to "adjustments" among NDOW accounts as "a shell game. They're transferring from one account to the next."

Reprinted from the Elko Daily Free Press, May 8, 1998