The money trail stopped in January at a $497,700 repair contract awarded at Pearl Harbor in 2003.

Local businessman Ambrose Fernandez Jr. has been questioning the circumstances of the award of that contract for 3 1/2 years.

It turns out that the Navy Office of the Inspector General conducted an investigation of the contract award in mid-2005.

We obtained a copy of the report recently through the Freedom of Information Act. The document demonstrates the depth of Fernandez's commitment to getting answers to his complaints. And it shows how time-consuming and exasperating following government money can sometimes be.

"The allegations raised by the complainant ... are duplications of previously answered complaints he made with Senator Akaka; Senator Inouye; Congressman Abercrombie; Congressman Case; Commander, Navy Region Hawaii; the Deputy Chief of Naval Personnel; General Accounting Office FraudNET; and the Regulated Industry Complaint Office in Hawaii," the report said.

The gist of the report is that all of Fernandez's allegations about the contract award were unsubstantiated, except one: that the Navy failed to properly notify Fernandez that his company's bid for the contract was not accepted and that the job had been awarded to another company.

But the inspector general's report does not address some of the key points Fernandez has raised in his blizzard of complaints.

For one thing, Fernandez discovered through his own Freedom of Information inquiries that the company that won the contract, a furniture retailer, had submitted what turned out to be the winning price quotation before other companies were even notified that the job was available.

Fernandez also complained that the furniture company that won the bathroom repair job wasn't licensed to do such work in Hawai'i. The inspector general's report said that the only license the Navy required for the job was a general excise tax license. (The Navy earlier told Fernandez that the furniture company had hired a licensed subcontractor to do the work.)

The bottom line, though, is that the Navy says it is satisfied that the work was done in a timely fashion at a reasonable price.

Fernandez is far from satisfied, however. He never saw the inspector general's report until we gave him a copy.

"I know I'm right," Fernandez said. "I'm not giving up."

If you know that a particular money trail will lead to boondoggle, excessive spending or white elephants, reach Jim Dooley at 535-2447 or jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com