Thousands at Defense Dept. on ‘Shopping Spree’

WASHINGTON —  More than 700 military officers are among 46,000 Defense Department employees who have walked away from $62 million in debt against their government-issued credit cards, and one civilian employee who charged thousands in personal expenses has been promoted to the office that oversees Army finances.

Testifying Wednesday before a House panel, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said those disclosures and the findings of a continuing General Accounting Office investigation show that abuse of credit cards issued by the Defense Department is not being taken seriously at the Pentagon.

“DOD credit cards are being taken on a shopping spree and the cardholders think they are immune from punishment. And they are,” Grassley told a House government reform subcommittee.

Defense procurement director Deidre A. Lee disputed Grassley’s claim. She said the Pentagon has taken significant steps in the last year to tighten controls over credit cards and to better train the employees who use them.

As of November, more than 46,000 Defense Department employees had defaulted on $62 million in official travel expenses charged to the government cards. The bad debts, which banks that issue the cards have been forced to write off, are growing at the rate of $1 million a month, according to Grassley.

Last year, 1.7 million Pentagon charge cards were used for purchases totaling more than $9 billion.

Most of the cards are for official travel and are billed directly to employees, who are responsible for paying the bills and getting reimbursement from the government.

Grassley said the accounts of the officers have been unpaid for seven months or more and include individual balances of as much as $8,000. He said the officers range in rank from lieutenants to colonels and a Navy captain.

Grassley said civilian worker Tanya Mays charged nearly $12,000 in personal expenses on her government card while working at the Navy Public Works Center in San Diego, and in October was promoted to the Army’s top financial management office in the Pentagon.

Mays was never disciplined and has never been asked to repay the government for any of the purchases, which included a computer, a kitchen appliance, gift certificates, clothing and groceries, Grassley said.

Mays did not respond to requests for comment made through the Army press office.

Evidence of unauthorized personal purchases by Mays was cited last summer by GAO investigators auditing the Navy Public Works Center. The case was referred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, but an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego declined to prosecute.