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State Rep. Thomas Wright has been paid 19 times for subsistence and travel to Raleigh for various meetings involving the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

But in eight of those cases, Wright should have already been in Raleigh for legislative sessions and received reimbursement from both DHHS and the legislature, according to an audit released today, reports David Ingram of The Charlotte Observer.

Thomas Berryman, the DHHS director of internal auditing, also wrote that Wright twice received $104 in subsistence from the department even though the department paid for his lodging directly, and that Wright claimed excessive mileage on one trip.

The "questionable payments" totaled $1,404.71, Berryman wrote. He recommended a further inquiry by the State Bureau of Investigation.

Wright, a Wilmington Democrat, is already under investigation over his campaign finances and his attempt to purchase property with an apparently false guarantee of state funds. House Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat, and others have called for Wright's resignation.

Berryman's office also found that a publicly funded N.C. non-profit paid $35,000 over two years to Wright to develop a network of health-care providers, but that now it can't find a copy of the contract.

Wright did not return a message left on his mobile phone.