DWP ignored Fleishman fraud warnings

Los Angeles' DWP ratepayers might have saved millions of dollars allegedly-bilked by PR firm Fleishman-Hillard had a 2002 warning been heeded:

Top managers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power ignored auditors' warnings about questionable bills submitted by the Fleishman-Hillard public-relations firm years ago -- a revelation Wednesday that renewed outrage over the scandal-plagued $24 million contract.

The municipal utility's own auditors raised concerns in 2002 about $330,000 in bills from the politically connected firm, but then-Chief Administrative Officer Frank Salas of the DWP brushed aside the warnings, according to the agency's director of internal auditing.