Deeply Upsetting: Report Details Abuse of Taxpayer Money at Treasury, and Supervisors Who Did Nothing About It

I don't even want to link things like this. It's too maddening.

There is political agitation, and then there is stuff that really agitates you, and sends your blood pressure shooting up.

Officials in two Treasury Department bureaus fraudulently enriched themselves at taxpayer expense, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.

The assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Public Debt who supervised 108 employees in the bureau's West Virginia office “was committing egregious time and attendance fraud," depriving taxpayers of nearly $100,000 in salary for hours she did not work, according to one of several Treasury Department inspector general documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, most of which had previously gone unreported.

The official, despite being paid an average yearly salary of nearly $170,000, "arrives at work approximately two hours late and/or takes two-hour lunch breaks and departs work at approximately 4:00 P.M. and does not take leave," and "consistently conducts personal business involving the Humane Society during work hours," IG investigators found after verifying a tip from an employee who said the top official "abuses her power by being absent whenever desired."

Her supervisor, the deputy commissioner, knew about the absences but did nothing, the investigators said.

...

Another inspector general investigation found that at the Office of Thrift Supervision, a GS-15 employee -- one of the highest ranks a federal career civil servant can obtain -- agreed to be transferred from an office near Los Angeles to an office near San Francisco and took $10,000 in relocation expense reimbursement, but then never moved.

She also submitted massive travel bills for routine travel to her new office, including hotel stays, to the OTS, which approved them.

She “submitted travel vouchers costing the OTS ... $87,047 in travel that would not have incurred if she had relocated," investigators wrote.

As with the Hines case, supervisors were aware of the wrongdoing, but did nothing to correct it.

There's more at the link.

Each of these ladies seemed to think they could get away with fairly brazen actions.

That doesn't bother me so much: You know my basic philosophy-- People Are Awful.

Here's what does bother me: They were right to believe that they could get away with brazen actions.

How did they know they could get away with this? What is so wrong with this system that federal workers know they can do whatever they like without having to worry about losing their jobs?

posted by Ace at 02:39 PM

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