US tax money spent on iPods
2006-07-19 14:59
Washington- Wielding government-issued credit cards, a congressional audit shows that homeland security employees racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in unjustified expenses last year, including bootees for rescue dogs, iPods, designer rain jackets and beer-making equipment.
More than 100 laptop computers and a dozen boats also bought by homeland security department employees are missing, the investigators found.
Poor training, lax oversight and rampant confusion over what employees are allowed to buy with government-issued credit cards left homeland security "vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse," according to a government accountability office draft report.
The report was to be released on Wednesday by a Senate panel that oversees the department.
Lack of training
Senators said more than 10 000 homeland security employees carry credit cards for business-related expenses - with a spending limit that was raised to $250 000 for emergencies after Hurricane Katrina hit last year. Aides said the audit covered expenses during a five-month period before and after the storm.
But the investigators found that employees received scant training on how to use the cards, were under lax supervision and were told to follow spending guidelines that differed among the 22 agencies that make up the department.
The department spent $435m with the purchase cards in the 2005 budget year, compared with $296m in 2004, homeland security spokesperson Russ Knocke said on Tuesday evening. But he said only a fraction of the 1.1 million purchases were improper, noting that the department has disciplined about 70 employees.
'Small number of bad apples'
"Comparatively, we're talking about a small number of bad apples," Knocke said.
Knocke, the homeland security spokesperson, said the department will begin enforcing new spending guidelines in the next several weeks that should eliminate much of the confusion and make sure purchases are strictly supervised.
Violators could have their cards taken away, be forced to repay expenses and face disciplinary action, he said.
"We take very seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars," Knocke said.
- AP