Homeland Security's credit card problems

July 19, 2006 0 Comments

A Government Accountability Office has released a report after auditing Homeland Security. Among the things discovered purchased by employees were “iPods, dog booties and brewing equipment.”

More than 10,000 employees carry credit cards for work-related expenses and during “emergency” situations (i.e.: Hurricane Katrina aftermath, etc) the spending limit on those government-issued credit cards was raised to $250,000.

Some of the highlights from the report are as follows:

$7,000 was spent on 12 Apple iPod Nanos and 42 iPod Shuffles. Apparently purchases totaling under $300 are not verified to be strictly work-related. The iPods were purchased for the purpose of “Secret Service ‘training and data storage.’ “
$1,000 was spent on home beer brewing equipment and supplies by a Coast Guard officer on duty as a social organizer. The numbers were crunched, and the cost of a six-pack from that home brew kit allegedly cost around $12. Investigators stated, “Given that the six-pack cost of most beers is far less than $12, it is difficult to demonstrate that the Academy is achieving cost savings by brewing its own beer.”
“Customs and Border Protection wasted up to $464,586 by buying meals-ready-to-eat over the Internet instead of contracting through the Pentagon, as is standard procedure.”
FEMA cannot locate: 107 laptops, 22 printers and two GPS units worth $170,000. Nor can they find 12 of 20 boats the agency bought for $208,000.

These are just a few things detailed in the story by the Associated Press.