Mr. Rothbloom argues that Ms. Palmer's lender levied improper costs, including $11,500 in legal fees.
More than 70percentt of the purchases were improper, costing the department an extra $20 to $60 million, they said.
The facts from this matter are central to a prospective class action filed by a borrower, who contends he was charged improper court costs and legal-related fees in his foreclosure.
"It's estimated that improper payments cost taxpayers almost $100 billion last year alone," he said.
In previous reports, Ms. Brown estimated that improper payments cost Medicare $23.2 billion in 1996 and $20.3 billion in 1997.
June Gibbs Brown, inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, said the improper payments cost the government $13.5 billion last year, up slightly from $12.6 billion in 1998.
Five days after improper behavior cost Bob Knight his job after 29 years as head basketball coach, Indiana University's trustees adopted a code of conduct yesterday that requires coaches and athletes to treat others with dignity and respect.
The Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, says that improper payments cost the federal government $60 billion in Medicare last year, or 10percentt of program spending, and $17.5 billion in Medicaid, or 6.7percentt.
In a complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, Astra, a unit of the Swedish drug giant Astra A.B., said that Mr. Bildman's improper behavior had cost the company more than $15 million and that it was seeking an award for that amount.
