February 28, 2007

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  NEWS: Canberra Fumes over Official Card Misuse

  The latest scandal concerning the misappropriation of government funds by the use of official credit cards emerges from Canberra, Australia this week. Police are currently investigating activity on two government-issued cards said to have been subject to misuse, which falls on the heels of one public official resigning last year after a like incident.
  
  A Canberra Sunday Times investigation into use of the corporate Australian Capital Territory (ACT) cards issued to high-ranking bureaucrats revealed that clothing, alcohol, and some $60,000 of non-official dining had been charged to the plastic. Corroborating the Times' findings was a report issued by ACT Auditor-General Tu Pham that detailed purchases made on personal gifts, staff parties, speeding fines and, in one case, "massage and health" services. Pham closed the report by stating that there were adequate checks and balances in place to prevent and deal with misuse of the cards, but the records accessed by the newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act indicated that at least two current officials has purchased alcohol on the cards, a major no-no. Pham countered that the purchases had been repaid by the officials in question, who used the cards in "error" by their own account.
  
  The government cards are used on an annual basis to make some $3.5 million of goods and services – a very small chunk of Canberra's $700 million in annual operating expenses.
  
  
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