ST. LOUIS (First Alert 4) - Missouri’s top financial watchdog says he has launched investigations into two St. Louis city entities.

He credits reporting by First Alert 4 Investigates for uncovering questionable grant disbursements and city contracts late last year.

For most of last year, a group gathered signatures to request that the state auditor conduct a sweeping audit of every St. Louis city department.

They learned today that too many of their signatures had been tossed out by local authorities.

But Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick says he will launch his own investigations.

“I mean, it’s just some shocking allegations that need to be thoroughly investigated,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick says he will take a close look at complaints in the city.

In November, a group called Audit STL City announced it had collected enough signatures to enable the state auditor to examine the city’s spending and performance.

Last year, First Alert 4 Investigates reported concerns about how millions of dollars in pandemic relief funds were being administered.

People collecting signatures said they want better transparency and accountability in city government.

But now, the auditor says the group fell just 39 signatures short of what was required. However, he is stepping in regardless, sending letters to two city entities stating that his office would be “conducting an initial review to investigate the complaint to determine if it is credible.”

“We have the authority to conduct investigations of alleged improper governmental activity,” Fitzpatrick said. “We don’t have blanket authority to initiate audits of city governments without first doing an investigation of a whistleblower complaint.”

In December, First Alert 4 Investigates revealed significant concerns about another pot of COVID-19 relief money. A city building inspector had ties to three companies receiving millions of dollars in contracts to fix up private properties in a program he oversees.

“So it’s just a big opportunity for money to be wasted and also for, you know, fraud to occur. So we’re going to be fairly investigating that,” Fitzpatrick said.

Some, including the city’s mayor, called for the state auditor to conduct a review. But Fitzpatrick says the city has already missed its initial deadline to provide the records he requested.

“If we don’t get what we need from them, we may have to subpoena that information,” he said. “So it’s really going to be determined by how cooperative they are in getting us that information.”

It’s a process that could take time, but one Fitzpatrick says he takes seriously for the sake of taxpayers.

“We just, you know, we’re spending a lot of our time in St. Louis. And it’s because there are a lot of things that need attention in St. Louis,” he said.

The auditor can now initiate his own investigations thanks to a new state law that passed last year. Essentially, it’s a first step—if they find enough to merit a full audit of the departments investigated, they’ll do it.

We’ll certainly keep you updated.

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