U.S. Watchdog Questions TARP Legal Fees

The U.S. government's bank bailout program paid more than $9 million in legal fees to law firms that submitted questionable bills with little or no details on services provided, the agency's watchdog said in a report released on Thursday. The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) said auditors questioned $8.1 million of a sampling of $9.1 million in bills from four law firms paid by Treasury's Office of Financial Stability (

). The firms submitted bills with either no descriptions or vague descriptions of the work performed, unsupported expense charges, and administrative charges that were not allowed under their contract, SIGTARP said.

.