The executive director of the San Diego Association of Governments, the county’s leading transportation and planning agency, approved hundreds of thousands of dollars in severance payments to former employees without telling the board of directors, a new audit has found.

Hasan Ikhrata, who took over as SANDAG’s top executive in December 2018, also allowed an employee to redeem unused sick time for more than $110,000, even though the unidentified worker was not entitled to the money, auditors said.

And another payment — made while the compensation and compliance audit was under way — authorized a $60,000 severance to a senior official after the official voluntarily resigned.

“The material findings disclosed within the report were a result of significant weaknesses in SANDAG’s governance and system of internal controls,” independent performance auditor Mary Khoshmashrab wrote to board chairman and Poway Mayor Steve Vaus last week.

Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2020-09-02/internal-audit-finds-sandag-leadership-exceeded-authority-approved-improper-payments