CONTACT: Tara Klimek
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CFO immediately orders corrective action to increase safeguards; CFO-ordered audit is first of its kind for Accounting and Auditing Department in ten years
TALLAHASSEE— Continuing her systematic performance evaluation of the divisions within Florida’s Department of Financial Services (DFS), Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink today released the results of a performance audit of electronic funds transfer (EFT) processes within the Division of Accounting and Auditing. CFO Sink called for the external audit last month after her department worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to successfully apprehend a suspect accused of wire fraud.
No performance audits of Accounting and Auditing’s EFT process had been performed in ten years. The EFT process was last audited by the department’s Inspector General in 1998 when DFS was then the Department of Banking and Finance.
“As a career banker with a lifetime in risk management, I understand that audits and assessments over internal controls are essential to keeping business processes running efficiently and securely,” said CFO Sink, who oversees DFS. “This external audit provides a blueprint for demanding and instituting increased safeguards over the electronic transfer of funds, and we are acting immediately to implement the audit’s recommendations.”
At CFO Sink’s direction, the performance audit examined the internal controls designed to prevent and detect errors or irregularities in the EFT process. The auditors also reviewed the information technology controls significant to the protection and integrity of the systems and data required for EFTs. Both the internal and information technology controls were evaluated with respect to essential risk management practices that provide necessary oversight.
CFO Sink has promptly appointed new leadership to guide the Divisions of Accounting and Auditing and Information Systems through these crucial enhancements. Effective immediately, Craig Vollertsen, the Bureau Chief of Mainframe Infrastructure, will serve as the Interim Director of the Division of Information Systems. Also effective immediately, Kimberly McMurray is being promoted from Bureau Chief of Funds Management in the Florida Treasury to the Division Director of Accounting and Auditing.
As a statewide elected officer of the Florida Cabinet, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink oversees the Department of Financial Services, a multi-division state agency responsible for management of state funds and unclaimed property, assisting consumers who request information and help related to financial services, and investigating financial fraud. CFO Sink also serves as the State Fire Marshal.
