Prosecutor says there’s no evidence of “criminal or corrupt” action in the nearly $1 million purchase of 40 Ford Crown Victorias in 2007 that violated procurement rules.

Crossroads Ford of Virginia sent a protest letter after the city had awarded the contract for 40 Crown Victorias. A city auditor and the dealer say proper competitive bidding procedures were not followed.

Some Richmond City Council members are thinking twice about sharing oversight of the city auditor in light of his revelation that the city violated purchasing rules on a nearly $1 million contract to buy police cars. The auditor currently serves at the pleasure of the council. But under draft recommendations of the Richmond City Charter Review Commission, he would be appointed by the mayor subject to the approval of the majority of council.

Well, you can’t say you weren’t warned. Early last year, Richmond Auditor Umesh Dalal wrote a scathing report saying that the city’s poor purchasing habits left it susceptible to fraud. Among his findings were that the city ignored its own bidding procedures and didn’t always shop for the best price. City officials tended to skirt requirements for competitive, sealed bids on purchases of more than $50,000. At least nine cases were uncovered in which no bids were sought for purchases exceeding that level.

Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring said yesterday that his office will investigate whether any crime was committed as part of a nearly $1 million purchase of police cars that violated procurement rules. He said he could not discuss details and added that it probably would take several weeks to determine whether charges will be sought.

Richmond officials violated procurement rules when the city bought 40 police cars for nearly $1 million in 2007 without allowing vendors to compete for the business, according to a city auditor’s investigation.