As if the disastrous rollout of the L.A. Department of Water and Power's new billing system wasn't bad enough, the utility now says the company responsible for it was living the life of Riley on the ratepayers’ dime.
On Thursday, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a motion in Los Angeles Superior Court to amend a lawsuit previously filed with the DWP against consulting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Not only did they overpromise when it came to the new billing system's rollout, but they fraudulently billed for hours that were never worked. Then they spent the cash on "lavish" Las Vegas Bachelor parties that included bottle service, hotels and hookers, the motion said.
Thursday’s move was an attempt to expand the 2015 lawsuit over the botched billing system to also include allegations of fraud. The court filing says the scheme involved top personnel and went on from 2011 until at least 2013.
The company has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Read more about the allegations here.
Image Credit: Flickr User constantingross, https://flic.kr/p/tt7jZr via (CC BY-ND 2.0)