Richmond Inspector General James Osuna fired during closed meeting of City Council

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Richmond's Inspector General, James Osuna, has been fired, according to a City Councilmember.

Osuna was fired through a vote of the City Council during a closed session on Monday, May 12, according to Richmond City Councilwoman Reva Trammell.

Richmond Times-Dispatch first reported the firing, including a text exchange between city officials.

The Inspector General is the city's top watchdog charged with investigating, detecting and preventing fraud, waste and abuse.

Osuna and his office investigated the city's elections office for months following claims of improper spending and nepotism against now-former General Registrar Keith Balmer, who then resigned.

Osuna's office also carried out an audit on the Virginia Department of General Services’ (DGS) Facilities Maintenance (FM) Division, which maintains 73 state facilities in and around Capitol Square in Richmond. The audit found DGS to be behind on thousands of projects, unpaid on orders ore than a decade old and with overall poor or inaccurate record-keeping on repairs it performed.

8News continues to look into the circumstances surrounding Osuna's termination.