Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory Names Independent Auditor (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory has named Carr Riggs & Ingram CPAs and Advisors (CRI), a third-party audit firm, to conduct a full independent forensic audit of Lafayette Utilities Services’ (LUS) affiliate transactions and finances.

“LUS is a critical asset of Lafayette Consolidated Government, representing almost half of our financial activity,” said Mayor-President Guillory. “We have to be confident that we know everything that is happening -- operationally and financially at LUS” Guillory said. “That is why I am calling for a full forensic audit of LUS by CRI” Guillory continued. “We need an unbiased, independent view of the situation at LUS so that we can apply the right remedy, restore the confidence of ratepayers and assure its integrity for financial markets,” Guillory concluded.

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Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory says Lafayette Consolidated Government will request Louisiana State Police to investigate some business practices at Lafayette Utilities System. This morning on KPEL's Lafayette Live, Guillory said multiple LUS employees are on administrative leave following a raid on department offices. The initial probe was based on numerous allegations of impropriety.

The full scope of the investigation has not been made public, but there are allegations that files related to payments between LUS and LUS Fiber were deleted. Guillory said it was important to him that an outside agency investigate LUS. For that reason, neither Lafayette Police or The Lafayette Parish Sheriff are involved.

This news comes after nearly a year of questions about payments made between LUS and LUS Fiber. That information came out in the wake of an effort by former Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux to turn management functions over to Baton Rouge-based Bernhard Capital Partners. We'll continue to follow developments as they become available.

Listen to the full comments on LUS below: