US bank gift card

A live-in fellow of a authorities employee enjoyed a life style costing 100s of one thousands of dollars at taxpayers' expense, said Ioway Sen. Prince Charles Grassley during his weekly telephone set news conference Wednesday.

Another authorities worker used a taxpayer-paid recognition card for online dating services, he added.

What's worse, these actions were not caught by federal authorities controls created to halt this abuse, Grassley said.

Government credit card maltreatment was the focusing of his news conference in response to the up-to-the-minute study on such as actions.

"This clip we're seeing 100s of one thousands paid to an individual whom the card holder lived and shared a depository financial institution business relationship with," Grassley said. "The Government Accountability Office even establish that a authorities recognition card was used to pay for online dating services. The authorities controls didn't catch this deceitful activity."

In the first case, it was a "whistleblower" who provided the facts to the government; and the 2nd lawsuit was discovered when the employee was being investigated for screening pornography on a authorities computer, he said.

The authorities may take action through prosecution if there's criminal activity or seek to reimburse the money, Grassley said.

But there could be a job there.

"With the high life style of people like this, maybe if they spent all the money, you're not going to reimburse it," he said. "It's foster grounds that statute law is the lone manner to halt these hideous disbursement habits."

The Senate Committee on Fatherland Security Governmental Personal Business is expected to see a measure he introduced last twelvemonth that would set up precautions and internal controls for authorities complaint card programmes and make punishments for violators, Grassley said.

"These are common sense controls that should be present in every federal federal agency to forestall improper purchases," Grassley said. "It's clock to harness in some of the munificent life styles authorities functionaries have got come up to bask on the taxpayers' dime."

It isn't just the munificent sort of life style taxpayers are supporting that demands to stop, he added.

"It is strictly deceitful activity that is taking place, whether it's one dime or the $652,000 over a time period of six old age that went in to a live-in fellow of one of the authorities employees."