Government Workers Charge It to Uncle Sam

Cosmetic surgery, a mounted deer head, designer briefcases and expensive wine are among goods improperly charged to U.S. government credit cards by employees, according to a report released Wednesday.

The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said in a report that hundreds of millions of dollars could be saved each year if there were stricter controls on the use of government-issued credit cards.

The government-wide purchase card program began in 1989 with the aim of streamlining federal buying and cutting down on processing costs. Card use was initially restricted to procurement personnel but later expanded.

From 1994 to 2003, the GAO said the use of government purchase cards increased from $1 billion to $16 billion. In most instances bills are paid directly by the government.

GAO audits of the charge cards found ineffective management, oversight and weak internal controls at the departments of Agriculture, Army, Navy, Air Force, Interior, Justice, Transportation and Veterans Affairs.

“[This makes] agencies vulnerable to fraudulent, improper and abusive purchase card activity,” said the report, released at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.

In one case, the Defense Department’s inspector general found a Navy employee had used a government credit card to buy two cars, cosmetic surgery and a motorbike. The cardholder made 59 fraudulent purchases worth more than $132,000.

In another case, a Defense Department employee used a purchase card to charge $1.7 million in fraudulent purchases from a fictitious company set up by her brother.