The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN's) failed efforts to create an information-sharing database resulted in a $5 million write-off last year. FinCEN wrote off hardware, software and associated labor for its BSA Direct Retrieval and Sharing database for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2006, according to an audit report released last week by Treasury's Office of Inspector General. The project – a data retrieval system to allow regulators and law enforcement to share Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) information – was plagued by multiple cost increases of more than 50 percent. Initially budgeted for $8.9 million at...
print