Going Hog Wild Using Federal Credit Cards

Agriculture Department employees used government credit cards to pay tuition for bartender school, to buy Ozzy Osbourne concert tickets, lingerie and to make a down payment on a car, according to a government audit released Friday.

Based on a random audit of 300 cardholders, the department’s inspector general estimated that 15% of the 55,000 USDA employees who carry the government credit cards -- or 8,250 employees -- made a total of $5.8 million in purchases other than for bona fide travel expenses. The audit covered a six-month period from Oct. 1, 2001, to March 31, 2002.

The cards are intended to cover travel expenses, but many were used routinely whether the employees were traveling or not, according to the audit. Among the uses were paying for 900 purchases at Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target and making car payments.

The auditors also examined accounts of the 25 USDA employees who obtained the most amount of cash out of ATMs. Twelve of the 25 “never traveled for official government purposes; their card usage amounted to almost $196,000,” the auditors said.

Sometimes workers used the cash to pay off personal debts and then to repay the bank that is on contract to provide the department with the credit card accounts, according to the report.

“As a result, improper charges, if unpaid, could negatively impact the department in the form of lost rebates from the contractor bank if the delinquencies were eventually written off,” auditors warned.

They also said that as of December, 1,549 former employees were found to have still-active cards in their possession.

The auditors found the department has no policy for disciplining workers over the misuse of cards and is inconsistent when it does punish them. In most cases, the agency either suspends the worker for a few days, sends a letter of reprimand, restricts travel or requires counseling.

Julie Quick, a department spokeswoman, said administrators were informed which cardholders have been misusing the cards and expects them to be reprimanded.

Quick said she isn’t aware of whether any employees were fired but said workers are being advised how to use the cards properly. Also, credit limits have been lowered and cash advances restricted, she said, “but the important point for us is that we’ve established an across-the-board zero tolerance for misuse of the cards.”