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Audit Alleges Corruption in Promo Product Buying

A government tourism official in a Florida county improperly used her position to buy $420,000 in swag from a private company she owned, an audit alleges.

A county government tourism official in Florida has resigned from her job after an audit revealed that she used her position to buy $420,000 in promotional products from a company she owned.

Carol Hudson, former vice president of sports development at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, spent $182,000 on can coolers alone – products for which her Fort Lauderdale, FL-based Saints Enterprises allegedly charged twice the cost, according to the audit. Saints Enterprises is not an ASI-listed distributor. The branded merchandise was intended to promote Broward County.

Hudson resigned in September after auditors approached her boss about the findings, according to a report from the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The results of the audit were made public Friday. Broward County Auditor Bob Melton told the Sentinel that he’d be reporting the results to the Florida State Attorney’s Office, which could determine if Hudson will face criminal charges.

According to the audit, Hudson bought swag from her private company without telling anyone that she was connected to the firm, which reportedly operated out of her home. That’s against county rules. Hudson’s purchases are said to include more than 45,000 zip-up can coolers with attached bottle openers, bought for about $4 each over a span of five years. Additional purchases included carry-on bags and leather briefcases.

The Sun Sentinel reported that officials aren’t sure whether any or all of the goods were received because of “sloppy book-keeping at the county-run Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau for its sports marketing account.”

According to the audit, Hudson spent an additional $67,098 on products from a firm with a marketing director with whom she allegedly had a personal and professional relationship. Products purchased included backpacks, which the audit said the firm bought from Hudson’s Saints Enterprises before then selling them to the convention bureau. Hudson is also under the microscope over other questionable spending. Auditors discovered an additional $588,271 in expenditures that had no documented public purpose, such as $91,417 on tickets to three Super Bowls.

According to Hudson’s LinkedIn profile, she was vice president of sports development at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau from June 2002 until September this year. Prior to that, her LinkedIn profile says she held “various positions” at Marriot International over the course of a nearly 10-year span that started in 1992.

Counselor has reached out to Hudson for comment, but has not heard back as of this writing.