“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wasted $1 million on virtual data storage it bought in 2008, the agency’s internal watchdog said, part of a series of investigations into the agency’s procurement practices,” Sarah N. Lynch reports for Reuters.
“The findings could provide ammunition to Republican lawmakers seeking to deny extra money for the SEC, concerned by the U.S. budget deficit but also looking to starve regulators of funding to implement the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law,” Lynch reports. “In the December report, Kotz investigated the SEC’s acquisition of data storage technology, which included items from Apple Inc. and virtual storage provided by a firm called Cloverleaf Communications, later acquired in 2010 by Dot Hill Systems. The report, dated December 14, 2010, was obtained by Reuters through a Freedom of Information Act request.”
“According to the investigation, an Apple salesman convinced the agency that Cloverleaf could provide a cheaper solution to the agency’s data storage and backup woes,” Lynch reports. “Although there were other companies that offered similar products, Kotz said the SEC violated federal contracting procedures by securing a no-bid contract with Cloverleaf, a company with which the SEC had no experience. Kotz said the contract actually proved ‘to be more expensive than other, better-known and less risky alternatives.'”
Lynch reports, “He also found the SEC improperly shared budget information with Apple and went ahead with purchases before getting proper approval and before performing reviews. Representatives of Dot Hill, Apple and the SEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Ooh, one miilllliion dollars! We blame Dr. Evil.
We’re not excusing or condoning any waste, but please: $1 million dollars out of the total money wasted annually by the U.S. government is akin not to a drop of water in a bucket, but to one molecule of H2O in the Pacific Ocean. We wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the government’s “series of investigations” into the matter cost more than the amount that was “wasted.”
This seems more like an attempt to smear Apple than anything else.
