Guess where the money is going...!!!

[imax2268]

Back in 2001 the General Accounting Office found that government credit cards had been used to pay for escort services in New Jersey, computers, digital cameras, women's lingerie, jewelry, engagement rings, and Elvis photos from Graceland.

One department employee used his card to buy his girlfriend breast implants. He at least paid the money back, but employees who bought themselves laptops, palm pilots and digital cameras didn't.

It happened because of the department's policy of giving out credit cards to almost anyone. It was supposed to make government purchases more efficient.

"Over 99.99 — well, 99.98 — percent of our purchases are for legitimate government use," said Capt. Ernest L. Valdes, who defended the Navy's record at a congressional hearing.

Pentagon's Loose Purse Strings

[Vickers]

1. That Capt. tries to make a joke about 99.99 and 99.98 percent

But what he doesn't realize is, 1/100th of a percent, when in the context of the DoD's budget, is still a whole shitload of money.

[napi21]

2. Don't be so quick to hang these folks.

I had a Company credit card too. All the credit slips had to be attached to my expense report as documentation. If there was a charge that wasn't Company related, it simply wasn't reimbursed and I had to pay the bill myself. It was an AmEx back when the total bill had to be paid in 30 days.

I'm sure some were scaming and maybe got away with it. But don't hang them all! Lap tops and digital cameras certainly could have been for business.

[AP]

3. Drown gov't in bathtub by giving money to retailers and banks. Please tell

me they didn't pay late intentionally so that MBNA could make a ton of money in finance charges too.

[imax2268]

4. 20/20 is running a report on it

right now...

[itsnoteasybeingreen]

5. I take full responsiblity...

... for the New Jersey escort services, my bad y'all, oh wait, military spending, I thought they were nailing me for CORPORATE fraud, nevermind, go about your business, nothing to see here.

[havocmom]

6. Havocdad works for the government and was required to get card by

the dept he works for to streamline repayment for any expenses he incurs while traveling for work. The card is in his name, not any US government entity, so any purchases on it are his liability, not that of any US government entity. He submits expense report with receipts for hotel, travel, meals when required to be somewhere other than his normal workplace. The expenses basically have to be pre-approved also.

What really annoys me is that he is required by his employer, the US Dept. of ####### to use this particular card in order to have his approved expenses reimbursed. The bill from the credit card company is his bill. Since it is in his name, any other lender we do business with counts the availible limit of it when scoring us and offering a rate. In other words, the US government forces him to have a card he did not apply for and that card is held against him for credit scoring. Companies do consider how many cards and what potential liability there might be from the total of all one's account limits when they decide to change rates on your existing accounts.

The government required card originally had a ridiculously high limit; like, he would have to buy a jet to use it to the max. The limit was way more than his work would ever require him to spend yet it could be used by other card companies to raise his rates on anything he carried with them. Nice little bonus to the Bank of America when one considers how many federal employees have to have the damn things! Other lenders get extra $$ too by considering the card limit when they adjust rates for each federal employee required to have a card for expense reimbursement. Whole lotta lenders got extra $$ in interest from a whole lot of fed employees due to this arrangement.

Any idiot forced to carry a particular card, like Havocdad has, who uses it to make extravagant purchases is a fool! Cuz it is the employee's bill. But putting expenses on this particular card is the ONLY way he can get reimbursed for travel expenses for work. Are some of these cards NOT assigned to individuals?

My guess is somebody's wife or kid got one hell of a job with B of A when this @(#*@)!@__! program was rammed down the throats of many federal employees.

And by the way, many were not informed before hand that this was gonna happen, the new cards just came in the mail and the government dept explained after wards what they were for! Un-fucking-believable! With no knowledge the card was coming, one's own name on the account and liability for any charges being on the individual rather than the dept. which required (and applied for it in each person's name), can you imagine the mess if a bunch had been stolen from the mail? We had no idea the thing was coming, so if it didn't arrive, we would have not known about its existence until we got a bill!

There was enough howling from everybody that they at least lowered the credit limit for each card back to the realm of what was feasible for the expenses they would likely incur for work travel. But the whole thing is a big payoff to the credit card bankers and it really pissed off a lot of federal employees to be forced into an account they didn't want but is their liability.

edit: typo

[Arianrhod]

7. Corporate cards are always in the employee's name.

My old Diner's Club from the company I worked for several years ago was in my name, not the company's. I think that's pretty much standard procedure.

Believe me, your husband is not alone in hating this card. Not many in the government like it. The government is notoriously slow in reimbursing, so guys who go TDY a lot always have a substantial amount out on the card.

[Pobeka]

8. Not true. My company is liable for my charges on my corporate card.

It used to be the other way around. It has flip-flopped from being the company's liability to the employee's 3 times in the 20 years I've worked there, but the period where it was the employee's liability did not last long.

[Arianrhod]

9. Hm.

Maybe it depends on the bank. I've never had a corporate card that wasn't issued in my name.

[Vickers]

10. When I worked for Siemens, it was issued in my name BUT was backed

by the company.

How that worked I don't know, but if an employee was let go with an outstanding CC balance, the company was responsible for paying it (then presumably taking it out of the employee's severance/last paycheck).

At all other times, we had to pay it ourselves.

Also, it didn't count toward our credit score.

[Pobeka]

11. What Vickers said :-)

Yes, the card has always had my name on it. But when the company switched to a card where the employees had the personal liability, there was a HUGE STINK raised over it. This was one of the reasons why the company switched over to a new card.

[Arianrhod]

12. Well, I obviously worked for the wrong companies. :) n/t

[lostnfound]

13. kick