Senator investigates Army charge card chief’s bonus history
A lawmaker is questioning Army officials about alleged awards and bonuses given to the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for financial operations.
On Tuesday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter to Army Undersecretary Les Brownlee asking for the results of an investigation about alleged mismanagement of the Army's purchase and travel card program by Ernest Gregory, one of the officials responsible for overseeing the program.
According to Grassley, Gregory is being considered for a Presidential Rank Award and a $25,000 bonus. The Presidential Rank Award is the government's highest award for civil servants. Senior management officials at federal agencies nominate executives for the awards, while panels of citizens choose the winners. The panels' selections then go to the president for his approval.
In the Feb. 4 letter Grassley questioned why Gregory would be a candidate for the award, given the fact that the General Accounting Office has uncovered pervasive abuse of purchase and travel cards in the Army. Moreover, in June 2002 the GAO declared the Army's charge card delinquency rate the highest in the federal government.
"GAO completed a very thorough review of Army [charge card] programs in June 2002, uncovering widespread fraud and abuse and giving the Army a grade of 'F' for management," Grassley said in the letter. "That is not a 'success story.' It is gross mismanagement."
The senator also asked for a history of the cash awards and bonuses given to Gregory over the last seven years.
Purchase cards allow federal workers to charge up to $2,500 without filling out the paperwork required for larger purchases. The 1998 Travel and Transportation Reform Act requires federal employees to use government charge cards, instead of personal credit cards, for travel expenses. Several investigations by GAO revealed that some Army personnel used the cards to buy personal items, such as cars, an engagement ring and vacation cruises. GAO also found that delinquent cardholders wrote bad checks to cover charge card payments, allowed banks to write off charge card balances, or just kept money the government reimbursed them rather than pay card charges.
After GAO's revelations, the Defense Department adopted a set of measures aimed at cracking down on the fraud and abuse. Last week the Office of Management and Budget said it planned to limit the number of purchase cards issued to federal employees.
Army officials did not respond to an inquiry about the allegations in the letter and a spokeswoman for Grassley said they had not yet received a response from the agency.