[Letter]

B-266001 May 01, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights GAO grants relief from pecuniary liability to an Air Force Finance and Accounting Officer (FAO) for an improper payment that his staff certified in reliance upon the certification of an Air Force Travel Management Office (not under the FAO's supervision) which obligated the government to pay for "prepaid" travel arrangements without first examining and verifying travel orders that later proved to have been fraudulently altered. He was also its disbursing officer. Major Mason and his staff were responsible for making disbursements on all travel vouchers approved for payment by the base's Traffic Management Office (TMO). Joslyn was a member of the Army Reserve who was ordered to duty by the Tucson Army Reserve Center (TUCARC). View Decision B-266001 May 1, 1996 GAO grants relief from pecuniary liability to an Air Force Finance and Accounting Officer (FAO) for an improper payment that his staff certified in reliance upon the certification of an Air Force Travel Management Office (not under the FAO's supervision) which obligated the government to pay for "prepaid" travel arrangements without first examining and verifying travel orders that later proved to have been fraudulently altered. Mr. John Nabil Director, Denver Center Defense Finance and Accounting Service 6760 E. Irvington Place Denver, CO 80279 Dear Mr. Nabil: This responds to your request that this Office grant relief from pecuniary liability under 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3527(c) to Maj. Michael Mason, Defense Accounting Officer, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, for an improper payment that resulted from a fraud perpetrated on the Air Force on November 25, 1992, by someone purporting to be Darrell J. Joslyn. As explained below, we grant relief to Major Mason. BACKGROUND When this loss occurred, Major Mason commanded the Finance and Accounting Office of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. He was also its disbursing officer. Among other things, Major Mason and his staff were responsible for making disbursements on all travel vouchers approved for payment by the base's Traffic Management Office (TMO). On December 15, 1992, Major Mason's staff received and paid a voucher submitted by TMO on behalf of its contractor, the Schedule Airline Ticket Office (SATO), for the cost of travel arrangements they made for someone identified as Darrell J. Joslyn. [1] According to the voucher, Joslyn was a member of the Army Reserve who was ordered to duty by the Tucson Army Reserve Center (TUCARC). Major Mason's staff detected nothing unusual or otherwise amiss in the voucher for Joslyn and paid SATO for it. After paying it, Major Mason's staff forwarded SATO's bill to the Army Finance and Accounting Center in Indianapolis for reimbursement on behalf of TUCARC. In a letter dated September 16, 1993, the Indianapolis center declined to make reimbursement for Joslyn's travel arrangements because it concluded that the travel arrangements provided to Darrell Joslyn by TMO and SATO were fraudulently procured. At your request, an investigation was commissioned by the Air Force to determine how this loss occurred. To appreciate how this loss occurred, it is important to know several things about TMO. By regulation, TMO is responsible for arranging travel for personnel and freight on behalf of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Air Force Instruction (AFI) No. 24-101, para. 1.19.12; AFI No. 24-201, para. 1.2. In addition, TMO regularly makes travel arrangements for other Defense Department entities in that region, including TUCARC. It forwards the vouchers for those arrangements (along with the vouchers for travel by Davis-Monthan personnel) to Major Mason's staff for payment, subject to reimbursement by the other Defense entities. [2] AFI No. 24-101, para. 3.6.1. TMO is not subject to the command or supervision of Major Mason. The investigative report concluded that either the night before or the morning of November 25, 1992, TMO received a request from TUCARC for approval of airline tickets for Darrell Joslyn. The tickets requested by TUCARC were to transport Joslyn on a combination of flights operated by the Alaska, American, and Wings West Airlines from Yakima, Washington to Fresno, California. Joslyn's travel was to commence at 6:50 that morning. Apparently, the request indicated that, while documentation confirming Joslyn's official status and travel orders would be sent by facsimile transmission to TMO, it could not be done before the flight was due to lift off. Moreover, Joslyn would be unable to pick up the tickets at Davis-Monthan, as he was in Yakima. For this reason, the tickets would have to be issued to Alaska Airline as "prepaids" to be picked up by Joslyn at the Yakima airport that morning. [3] The TMO staff told the investigator that it had made similar arrangements occasionally in the past, based on facsimile transmissions or telephone conversations with TUCARC officials.