The Washington State Auditor’s Office investigated sales of office supplies including print supplies, pens, and paper to the Department of General Administration between July and September in 2009.
The audit found that the Department had been consistently charged more than the agreed prices for supplies in the investigated period, as well as being overcharged on shipping costs.
Several frequently purchased items were also removed from Depot’s low cost Essentials range and charged at their full prices.
If the overcharging took place across the entirety of the four-year contract so far, it could total more than $5 million. However, no allegations of fraud have been brought forward.
This is not the first overcharging confrontation for Office Depot, with previous incidents in the city of San Francisco and the states of Nebraska, North Carolina and Florida.
The full audit report by the Washington State Auditor’s Office can be found online here.