IEDC Reports Audit Fixes as AG Hires FTI

Indiana's top economic development officials say the findings of last year's forensic audit of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. have been resolved. Meanwhile, the office of Attorney General Todd Rokita has hired the same consulting firm, without public announcement, for a narrower review of travel and entertainment spending by the agency's nonprofit foundation.

At a State Budget Committee meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10, Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, asked Commerce Secretary Chuck Goodrich, whom Gov. Mike Braun appointed in June, whether all of the audit's issues had been resolved, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.

"We have studied the audit," Goodrich said. "I know that we have corrected, I think, every item on the audit."

Clinton Bohm, the IEDC's chief financial officer, drew a distinction between the audit's two categories of issues. "The actual findings have all been addressed," Bohm told the committee. "The observations, we're working on policies to put into place so that we can operate in a way that would alleviate those."

What the 2025 audit found

Braun's administration hired FTI Consulting in May 2025 after reports of alleged self-dealing at IEDC-affiliated groups. FTI's 127-page report, published Oct. 2, 2025, covered Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2024, former Gov. Eric Holcomb's last three years in office. It identified 45 findings and observations across the IEDC, its foundation, Elevate Ventures, the LEAP district in Boone County and the Applied Research Institute. The report described no criminal wrongdoing.

For the IEDC itself, FTI listed six findings and 24 observations. The findings included employees who failed to disclose conflicts of interest, missing conflict-of-interest forms, potential failures to report conflicts to the Indiana State Ethics Commission, and inconsistent due diligence and competitive bidding before contracts. FTI identified 30 entities that received IEDC funding while connected to an IEDC board member or employee. Four of those were discussed in board or committee meetings, and one was disclosed to the ethics commission.

The audit also examined the Indiana Economic Development Foundation, a nonprofit that shares the IEDC's staff and board. Of 107 donors to the foundation during the review period, 46 received payments or tax credits from the IEDC totaling about $238 million. The foundation spent $13.4 million in those years, mostly on trips. FTI flagged more than $86,000 for international car race tickets and events, $70,000 for VIP airport services, about $700,000 in hotel payments, and roughly $167,000 in international travel costs tied to three family members of state officials.

FTI's contract was worth up to $800,000, and the Capital Chronicle reports the firm was paid that amount, citing state records. The governor's office said in October 2025 that FTI shared any potential ethics violations with the Office of Inspector General. No action against any person or entity has been disclosed.

What the IEDC says changed

An Oct. 1, 2025, memo to Braun from then-Commerce Secretary David Adams said full-board votes had replaced committee votes, travel practices now followed state policy, and board conflict-of-interest checks were standard. Adams also wrote that the foundation had stopped taking new contributions and was "moving toward wind-down."

The foundation still operates. In March, the IEDC board approved an event and expense policy limiting foundation spending to the state's economic development mission, barring personal or political expenses and requiring that spending be "reasonable, properly documented and approved." At Tuesday's meeting, Goodrich said the foundation now has a business plan "that's very specific on where the money is raised and why we raise it."

What the new review covers

The new contract is between FTI and the Office of the Indiana Attorney General. A chief deputy attorney general signed it for the office on Aug. 26. The Capital Chronicle published a copy of the contract with its Nov. 12 report.

Under the contract, FTI will review a "risk-based sample selection" of 100 travel and entertainment expenses paid by the foundation from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 30, 2026, a span covering parts of the Holcomb and Braun administrations. The firm "will evaluate whether T&E expenditures were reasonable, properly documented, and consistent with the IEDF's stated mission and the intended purposes of IEDF funding."

FTI bills $625 an hour, with total pay capped at $275,000. The contract runs from Aug. 24, 2026, through Aug. 25, 2027.

A second phase is optional and would require a contract amendment. If added, it would examine whether organizations that received IEDC money from 2022 through 2024 "failed to execute their stated missions, failed to use IEDC funds for their intended purposes, or were established or operated for fraudulent or improper purposes." Neither phase includes collecting electronic communications for e-discovery.

Rokita's office did not respond to the Capital Chronicle's request for comment on why it is pursuing the review. Griffin Reid, a spokesman for Braun, said both the IEDC and the foundation have been directed "to cooperate with all state agencies seeking information, including the OIG and the OAG."