The Puerto Rico government could not justify the spending of over $50 million in federal funds from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the island’s recovery and reconstruction after the 2017 hurricanes Irma and María. According to an audit by the HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG), Puerto Rico failed to provide adequate documentation for $47.8 million in payments, and the OIG recommended that the Office of Dispute Resolution require Puerto Rico to support or reimburse these unjustified payments.
The audit, which covered funds granted between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2023, found duplicated, incomplete, and inaccurate justifications for the payments. The OIG attributed these issues to Puerto Rico’s lack of internal controls to correctly classify, assign, and track its non-federal matching expenditures for disaster recovery. The Puerto Rico government responded that the problems were due to data recording and presentation issues, not improper payments, and that it has agreed to improve its controls and procedures.