Department of Homeland Security employees who were issued purchase cards to make small purchases, generally of $2,500 or less, for immediate needs while working in the field, abused the cards, making inappropriate purchases of, among other things, a 63 inch plasma television set, a beer brewing kit, and golf and tennis training.
In addition, much of the material purchased with the cards has been lost or misappropriated, such as 100 laptops FEMA purchased for use during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
The revelations came as a result of a joint investigation (PDF) by the Government Accountability Office and DHS inspector general.
Why does the Department of Homeland Security need to make its own microbrews for “official parties,” anyway?
The purchase limit for the U.S. Bank-issued MasterCard cards was temporarily raised from $2,500 per transaction to $250,000 after Hurricane Katrina so that employees could make larger purchases in support of relief efforts. But the rise also allowed for greater fraud, including one case where the Federal Emergency Management Agency was charged twice for 20 flat-bottom boats.
“There’s strong indication that [DHS gives out] too many cards,” said Gregory Kutz, GAO’s forensic audits and special investigations managing director. GAO and the DHS inspector general found, in a joint report to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, that nearly 2,500 purchase cards went completely unused.
For the approximately 10,000 cards in circulation during a five-month period beginning in June 2005, the report found that 45 percent of purchases lacked the required prior written authorization, 63 percent failed to confirm that goods and services were received and 53 percent did not give priority to already designated vendors. — Government Executive
The GAO said it wasn’t exactly looking for fraud, waste and abuse, but found plenty of it anyway.
Even apparently properly made purchases weren’t immune. In many cases, items simply disappeared, such as two GPS units, 107 laptops and 22 printers still unaccounted for even after investigators went looking for them. They’re now listed as “presumed stolen.” The problem? The assets weren’t entered into inventory properly, nor were they accounted for properly when loaned out to other agencies.
In another case, Coast Guard employees bought 13 laptops, and when three of them turned up missing the next day, they tried to cover up the apparent theft by falsifying the paperwork. Who do you suppose stole those laptops?
And then there are just the stupid ones. A Customs and Border Protection employee bought $465,000 worth of Meals Ready to Eat from a vendor on the Internet, instead of just getting them from the Department of Defense, when it wasn’t even clear that they would actually need them. Most of them are still sitting in a warehouse in El Paso, Texas. And the Defense Logistics Agency had plenty of MREs to go around.
Other abusive or questionable purchases include 2,000 unused sets of dog booties, 12 iPod Nanos and 42 iPod Shuffles purchased by the Secret Service, and much more.
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Karl Marx would love the popular moves among politicians in various state governments and the federal government to ban so-called "junk" food in schools, and to "put healthy food in" convenience stores and on the tables of those they define as poor. It's a very elitist and arrogant mindset that promotes this ideology, and it needs to be addressed.
Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.
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Rob Miller
Jul 21, 2006
Ugh. So much stuff has happened recently that should see heads rolling, but nothing seems to be done.
Matt
Jul 21, 2006
All with your tax dollar!
J. Bruno
Jul 21, 2006
You can’t blame the Secret Service for the Ipods. Just because they’re off duty doesn’t mean they can go an hour without the warm, reassuring voice of the collective in their ears. Even if it’s just a recording to “take the edge off.”
buff daddy
Jul 21, 2006
Maybe we should be more concerned about regulating our own government than being concened with the government regulating us! I’m only half-joking, too!
Fool me once, shame on you… Fool me twice, shame on me! How much longer are we willing to allow this kind of crap to go on? They can’t secure our personal information, they can’t handle our tax dollars responsibly and they can’t be trusted to ensure our saftey and security. Yeah, I know… The common response would be to wait for this year’s elections and vote in more competent politicians, but how do we know they wouldn’t be just as ineffiecent as the current representitives that we elected into office based on our beliefs that they would be more competent and efficient representitives?
Maybe it IS time to demand less control of our government and try to do a better job! Then again, we just might loot the coffers and spend it on beer brewing kits, iPods, HDTV’s, etc.
I DO NOT have the answers myself, but I HOPE somebody does! Something HAS TO BE DONE about this, and fast!
buff daddy
Jul 21, 2006
Actually, I DO have one solution… Analyze these reports MONTHLY instead of YEARLY! If a computer can keep track of each cards usage on a per-purchase basis, then that same computer can also analyze unusual spending patterns in real-time and notify someone in authority who can put an end to it before these stories happen!
I have done numerous BPA’s for companies (specifically the IT side of the business), and there are two common reasons why: They’re IT expenditures are bleeding the company dry or They want to prevent their IT expenditures (usually before they implement a large-scale IT Project) from eventually bleeding the company dry. I also had the added advantage of working for an accounting firm that were called in to clean up their books or had spotted the abnormalities before they had a chance to become a mess in the first place.
The government might be way overdue for a Business Process Analysis of their own AND making an Accounting Firm change as well! :)
Kevin Fields
Jul 21, 2006
Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m thinking the government is going to have a HUGE surplus sale soon … ;-)
buff daddy
Jul 21, 2006
I can just see it now, Kevin…
“SALE! SALE! SALE! We’ve got thousands of iPods, only $29.95! HDTV’s for only $500! For all you collectors out there, we have confidental documents for the low, low price of $10 per ream! Even the DHS reports that started this sale in the first place must go! Make us a valid offer, and it’s yours! And for you multimillionaires out there looking for the perfect spot for that new mansion you had in mind, you can take Arizona and/or Mississippi off our hands for cheap!”
:)