An official audit on a trillion yuan of projects slated for affordable housing has found billions were misappropriated by companies and government authorities.The National Audit Office on August 17 released a report which named 120 such entities found misusing funds for low-income housing.The funds were found being used for loan repayments, unrelated investments and staffing expenses.In a review conducted January to March, government auditors found a total of 9.4 billion yuan was misused.The report found numerous oversight lapses in the processing of loan and subsidy documents, and in the vetting of individuals from low-income backgrounds.The auditor said authorities took possession of nearly 6,500 homes given to unqualified families and another 1,800 homes used for other purposes.Local authorities were found to have improperly taxed companies a total of 520 million yuan.As of June 10, the report said authorities have recovered almost half, or 4.1 billion yuan, of misused funds.For Caixin Online, this is Diana Bates.
