Abuse of Government Credit Cards

Credit card fraud and misuse has always been a subject that can be fuelled by pure greed. In a recent announcement it seems that credit cards have been abused by a number of federal government employees, which makes us really stand up and take notice. The Government Accountability Office released an annual report about the credit card usage. This company was designed to streamline government spending by allowing select employees to have credit cards. This would help them buy the needed materials or essentials for the office. This would make it easier for them to get what they needed without bids, purchasing orders, or approvals from the chain of command. However it has been abused again.

The basis for this program was to offer the credit card for any purchase below 2500 dollars. The purchases are still supposed to be monitored by the federal guidelines; however some of the employees actually used the credit cards like personal lines of credit. This left the tax payers paying the bill. The GAO has on a yearly basis reported abuse since 2001. This abuse cannot be stopped or slowed down from the looks of it.

One of the top stories regarding government abuse comes from the US Forest Service. They had an employee in Oregon who wrote convenience checks in the amount of 640,000 dollars from 2000 to 2006 before this person was caught. The checks where written to a live in boyfriend who used the money for gambling, car expenses, and mortgage payments. It is surprising that it took six years to go undetected. The culprit is now serving 21 months in prison.

Another case was a cardholder spending 360 dollars at Seduccion Boutique in Ecuador. These purchases were made by a person who was at a jungle training exercise for a drug enforcement program. The underwear and lingerie was reported on the statement to be used for the exercise. So hopefully it was just fraudulent and not something else.

There was also a postmaster who charged over 1100 dollars in 15 months for online dating services. This person was actually under investigation for pornography at the time that he accessed via his government computer. He had to take sick leave and retire as well as pay back the money he stole. But this doesn’t really offer a lot of confidence for the taxpayers.

In another situation with the postal service they spent 13,500 dollars for a dinner with 81 attendees. This was more than 160 dollars per person with 40 bottles of wine costing more than 50 dollars apiece.

The GAO doing the audits on credit card spending only looked at 2.7 million dollars rather than the entire 14 billion dollars. Even with the 2.7 million dollars being audited the government couldn’t come up with the accounting for these charges. Most of these charges were computers, IPods, and Cameras. They just couldn’t find the products purchased for 1.8 million dollars. The Army hasn’t been able to locate computer items that supposedly make up 16 server configurations. The abuse of these cards is just astounding.

Back To Financial News April 2008
Travel Rewards With Your Credit Card
APS and Prepaid Gold MasterCard
The Figures On Credit Card Balance Transfers
Pointers for Balance Transfers
Credit Card Interest
Credit Offers Limited
Executive’s Life Ruined by ID Theft
Getting Around Life’s Obstacles
How To Borrow A Grand
Paying for a Good Credit Rating
UK Debt and the Mortgage Industry
Abuse of Government Credit Cards
Asian Growth Helps UK
Banks Raising Funds Offers Hope
Darling and UK Banks Going Head to Head
Estate Agents and Card Fraud
Government to Help UK Banks
Insuring UK Gardens
Interest Rates Rising with Underhanded Techniques
Lost Luggage Insurance Removed
Overdraft Charges Increase Credit Card Balances
Prediction: 10 Percent Drop in Insurance Market
Rise in the Housing Market Prices
The Scams With Telephone Calls and Security Codes
UK Insurance Costs Rising