A Council Bluffs woman signed vouchers to provide equipment to deaf Iowans while also running a side business that allowed her to use them, an audit released this morning shows.
The situation – brought to Iowa government officials’ attention by Nebraska officials – resulted in the woman, Janet Killam, pleading guilty on Aug. 5 on an aggravated misdemeanor charge of fraudulent practice. She was sentenced to year of probation, fined $625 and returned checks or reimbursed the state $10,778.
“It took a person of questionable ethics to even perpetrate that because someone of good ethics would not do that,” said Andrew Nielsen, a deputy auditor for the state.
The Telecommunications Access Iowa program – better known as TAI – is part of the Iowa Utilities Board. Deaf Services Unlimited, a Des Moines-area business, is paid to administer the program.
The program provides vouchers to eligible applicants to pay for about 95 percent of the average costs of specialized equipment.
Part of the application process requires a licensed professional signature to verify the need for the phone equipment. Once the voucher is issued, the applicant can use it to purchase the equipment from an authorized dealer.
State law enforcement officials in October of 2012 were notified by Nebraska agents that Killam, 64, had submitted false applications under a similar program in that state. Killam was arrested in March as a result of the Iowa investigation.
The state generally has various checks in place to prevent someone involved in issuing vouchers or checks from being able to benefit from them. Some of those checks were not in place since the state contracts with a business to administer the program, Nielsen said.
Today’s audit recommends the Iowa Utilities Board adopt policies that require income and family size reports are verified – which has previously not been done – and that the state require verification that the equipment was received.
The utilities board will review its policies, according to the department’s response in today’s audit.
Attempts to reach Killam were not successful.
