City Controller Laura Chick said today that her audit found $4.2 million in "unsubstantiated, unsupported, and questionable charges" billed to the city by Fleishman-Hillard for public relations services. PRWeek reports that Chick attributed at least $1 million of that figure to padded hours for work never performed, as alleged in a story earlier this year in the L.A. Times. She called it "some of the worst tomfoolery I've ever seen" at a downtown press conference, but a Fleishman representative handed out a statement saying, "We strongly disagree with the vast majority of the controller's report. Most of the assertions in the document can not be supported by the facts."

* 6:45 p.m. update: The Times story says that Chick turned her findings over to federal and local prosecutors and to City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, and she calls Mayor Jim Hahn partly responsible for allowing the inflated billings. Councilman Jack Weiss joined her in pointing a finger at the mayor, but Hahn spokesman Yusef K. Robb retorted that payments to Fleishman were all routinely approved by Chick's office. Meanwile, Fleishman acknowledged for the first time that documentation is lacking for some city billings by the firm, but said it totals $652,457 over six years. The agency offered to go to arbitration, but Chick and Delgadillo demanded immediate repayment of all $4.2 million. Hahn also issued a statement saying in part, "Any wrongdoing by Fleishman-Hillard must result in full compensation for the taxpayers of Los Angeles, an appropriate punishment for any abuse of public funds and a deterrent to future abuse."

Wednesday stories: Times, Daily News, Daily Breeze