Posted on 02/26/2017 7:59:24 AM PST by ColdOne
Environmental Protection Agency employees used their government purchase cards to spend $14,985 on fitness memberships, according to an audit by the inspector general of the agency.
With the goal of assessing the risk of illegal, improper, and erroneous purchases made on the EPA's purchase card, the auditors evaluated 18 transactions totaling $48,345 and found that none of them complied with any of the internal controls that were tested.
Some of these controls require that officials give approval, that records be properly placed in the vendor's banking system, and that transactions be reviewed by the card holder within 10 days of posting.
The auditors found that 2 of the 18 transactions, totaling $14,985, were for fitness memberships. Three other transactions were made to vendors who were considered high risk, which requires further documentation for review.
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
This is the federal government we're talking about. Know what'll happen? The purchase cards will be pulled from every card holder who has *never* been dinged in an audit, but the clueless and/or criminal employees won't be touched.
In March of 2014, the inspector general released a report noting that of the $152,602 in transactions that they evaluated, $79,254 went to purchases that were prohibited, improper, or erroneous.
If the user would be denied reimbursement for "prohibited, improper, or erroneous" transactions, then there's not really much of an issue.
“Criminals.”
THE operative word here.
GO TRUMP!
It’s to the individual through the organization. All purchases are supposed to be reviewed and approved by the groups accounting personnel. Anything not ok’ed, the individual then must pay out of pocket or within 90 days have it taken out of his/hers pay. Clearly for whatever reason that is not happening. There is no oversight and no consequences for failure to comply.
Ahhh, spending up to their budget. Forgot about that SOP. Must never spend less than the budget, lest it be reduced.
Fire ‘em...
I worked for a large corporation and had a credit card. I had to sit down at the computer every month and input all my purchases and what the purchases were for, then print it out and interoffice the report and all my receipts to the finance person in my division.
If I had done something like this I would have been fired in a heartbeat.
Ahhh..... champagne in bathtub, five star hotel conference, high fives from the government workforce.
Fire them
Seems like a good way to get rid of libs in agencies. Their grand sense of righteousness and entitlement would lead them to thinking that they could get away with this (especially during the Obama years).
Give expense accounts a fine-tooth-comb audit, and give violators the option of resigning or being prosecuted.
And prosecute any management personnel who gave the go ahead to pay those bills.
YADA YADA YADA!! Nothing ever happens in cases like this. IG’s are like the commercials on TV - “”we only monitor”” - we don’t actually do ANYTHING worthwhile except dig up stuff that will enrage anyone in their right mind!!!!
“”The US taxpayers could save billions by shutting down the EPA””
The US taxpayers could save a lot of money in salaries and benefits by abolishing Inspectors General....
“Anything not ok’ed, the individual then must pay out of pocket or within 90 days have it taken out of his/hers pay. Clearly for whatever reason that is not happening. There is no oversight and no consequences for failure to comply.”
So it’s really a multi-level fraud system. The approving managers are in on the scam. Fire all of them! These kinds of flagrant abuses are, at this point in time, a cheap way to get rid of someone for cause. Their unions will have no mechanism to help them to stay on.
Drain the swamp. This is as good a place as any to start.
Those employees need to be arrested and held for trial. That's OUR money they are stealing.
Trump's people (DOJ, etc.) need to be all over this.
Theft bring charges make example of stealing other peoples money.
Your point is true. That is why these people need to be charged with Theft. A criminal conviction will get them fired. It is in these same contracts and work regulations that they would have signed to preserve the funds for work purposes only. The entire problem is these people are never charged. Then the debate of whether they are crimes or misdemeanors? They are CRIMES! just more Gov’t BS.
Stripping federal employees of the right to join a union is first step. SEcond is a complete rework of civil service laws to make employees more accountable.
Honestly this is a nothing burger. Tiny sum of money and we pay for their health care so fitness membership could save money. $15000 will buy you about 30 mins in an operating room.
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