Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) expires on October 3rd, Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for TARP, has submitted his budget request for the coming year.  His request is for an increase in his staff from 140 people to 192 people. 

“The reason why we’re ramping up is that the amount of fraud that is out there, the amount of case work that we’re doing, has in some cases exceeded our expectations. The cases are very complex … sophisticated white collar cases,” he (Barofsky) said.

“Barofsky declined to talk about the budget request or how much his office is requesting, citing privacy rules governing the submission. But he said it’s natural for investigations to heat up in the years after a program gets under way, as regulators, auditors and others begin to spot red flags.”

Barofsky is opening four branch offices across the country, which he plans to staff with investigators. Meanwhile, the Treasury, which is in the midst of ending TARP, has about 220 people working on the program.

I think it is really great that Mr. Barofsky is planning to investigate fraud in the TARP.  I just wonder if increasing his staff by more than one-third when government spending is totally out of control is a reasonable move.