[Letter]

B-260753 Jan 11, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Two disbursing officers are relieved of liability pursuant to 31 U.S.C. There is no indication of bad faith on the part of the disbursing officers. Collection action was initiated in a timely and adequate manner. The improper payment resulted when a check was issued for a travel advance to S. Relief is therefore unnecessary. Relief is granted. Authorized the issuance of a second check to replace the check that Sergeant Franklin claimed not to have received. There was no record of a replacement check being issued. Diligent collection action was undertaken. There is nothing in the record to suggest that Sergeant Franklin was not otherwise entitled to the amount he was paid. The replacement check issued on December 9 was improper in that it duplicated a payment already made to Sergeant Franklin. View Decision B-260753 January 11, 1996 Two disbursing officers are relieved of liability pursuant to 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3527(c) for the improper payment of a recertified check after a cash payment for a lost check had already been made. There is no indication of bad faith on the part of the disbursing officers; disbursing officers exercised reasonable care as established by applicable regulations; and collection action was initiated in a timely and adequate manner. Mr. John S. Nabil Director, Defense Finance and Accounting Service Denver Center 6760 E. Irvington Place Denver, Colorado 80279-8000 Dear Mr. Nabil: This responds to your letter dated March 7, 1995, requesting relief from liability on behalf of four accountable officers for an improper payment in the amount of $1,254. The improper payment resulted when a check was issued for a travel advance to S. Sgt. Scott G. Franklin after he had already been paid in cash. We conclude that Capt. Dale R. Carlson and Mrs. Gertrude Noel did not make the improper payment; relief is therefore unnecessary. With regard to Mr. James Dockter and Mrs. Julane Wood, relief is granted. On November 2, 1992, the Accounting and Finance Office at F.E. Warren Air Force Base (Finance Office) mailed a check for a permanent change of station (PCS) claim payable to Sergeant Franklin in the amount of $1,254. Sergeant Franklin did not receive the check and on November 10, 1992, he so notified the travel section of the Finance Office, claiming that the check had been mailed to the wrong address. On November 12, 1992, SSgt. Jon Goldtrap, in violation of Air Force Regulations, prepared a voucher to pay Sergeant Franklin the $1,254 in cash. Air Force Regulations specify that when a certified U.S. Treasury check has been reported as lost, recertified payments must be "by a new numbered (not a control or substitute) replacement check issued to a recipient based on a claim against the original check." AFR 177-108, ch. 9, para. 9-2(e). The Finance Office's cashier, Mrs. Gertrude Noel, upon receipt of Sergeant Goldtrap's voucher, paid cash to Sergeant Franklin on November 12. Several weeks later, on December 9, 1992, Mrs. Julane Wood, Chief of Paying and Collecting, unaware that Sergeant Franklin had been paid in cash, authorized the issuance of a second check to replace the check that Sergeant Franklin claimed not to have received. S. Sgt. Goldtrap, in authorizing the cash payment, erroneously charged the PCS appropriation account, account 573500 32358890Y 503725, rather than the replacement check appropriation as required by governing regulations. Consequently, when Mrs. Wood checked the replacement check appropriation to determine if Sergeant Franklin had been paid, there was no record of a replacement check being issued. Mrs. Wood then directed TSgt. Larry Buchholtz to prepare a voucher for a replacement check. Sergeant Buchholtz prepared the voucher on December 9, 1992, and Sergeant Franklin received and cashed the replacement check later that month. On April 29, 1993, Mrs. Wood discovered that Sergeant Franklin, then separated from the Air Force, had been paid twice. Diligent collection action was undertaken, although collection efforts failed. The cash payment of November 12, although in violation of Air Force Regulations, did not constitute an improper payment; there is nothing in the record to suggest that Sergeant Franklin was not otherwise entitled to the amount he was paid. The replacement check issued on December 9 was improper in that it duplicated a payment already made to Sergeant Franklin. The two disbursing officers accountable for this payment are Mr. James Dockter, who was the accounting and finance officer on December 9, and Mrs. Wood. Disbursing officers are personally liable for deficiencies in their accounts resulting from illegal, improper, or incorrect payments. However, under 31 U.S.C. Sec.