Comments on Army Officers' Requests for Relief from Liability for Improper Payments, B-274364 B-276306, April 23, 1997

B-274364 B-276306 BNUMBER: B-274364 B-276306 DATE: April 23, 1997 TITLE: B-274364 B-276306 ********************************************************************** B-274364 B-276306 April 23, 1997 Mr. David L. Gagermeier Assistant General Counsel Defense Finance and Accounting Service Indianapolis Center Indianapolis, IN 46249 Dear Mr. Gagermeier: This responds to your letters of January 22, 1997 and August 19, 1996, requesting relief of Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) H.G. Thigpen, Defense Accounting Officer, Fort Stewart, Georgia, from personal liability for improper payments in the amount of $6,944.33 and Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) M.C. Mattingly, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, from personal liability for improper payments in the amount of $6,754. For the reasons stated below, we grant both of your requests for relief. In addition, we also relieve LTCs Thigpen's and Mattingly's subordinates who made the improper payments in question. BACKGROUND Your submissions indicate that the improper payments resulted from a wide-ranging fraud scheme perpetrated by Sergeant First Class Robert J. Lamb. Mr. Lamb received about $70,000 through 25 false claims to Army, Air Force and Navy accounting and travel offices for Do-It-Yourself (DITY) moves of personal property that he never in fact made. The DITY program is a military program designed to save the government money and provide a quick, informal way to facilitate inexpensive moves of military personnel on short notice. Under the DITY program, a member can present a voucher for advance payment of the anticipated costs of moving to another post pursuant to military travel orders. The member need not go to his or her own command or even his or her own branch of the military to obtain such payments. Instead, through a procedure known as "cross disbursing," any command may make DITY advance payments to members based solely on the presentation of appropriate paperwork and military identification (ID). The member's service and/or command is then billed for reimbursement after the fact. Mr. Lamb, while absent without leave from the Florida National Guard, altered his original travel orders requiring him to report to active duty for training at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, to show travel from Florida to Fort Bliss, Texas. He submitted fraudulent documentation directly to various base accounting and travel offices to receive these payments. The U.S. Property and Fiscal Officer (USPFO), Florida, became aware of Mr. Lamb's fraudulent DITY claims when a clerk received billings for reimbursement from two different posts on the same day. The USPFO contacted the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division Command (CID) about the fraudulent claims. An investigation by CID eventually led to Mr. Lamb's apprehension, arrest, and prosecution. Lieutenant Colonel Thigpen On August 24, 1994, Mr. Lamb submitted his first DITY claim at a branch office of the Fort Stewart, Georgia, finance office. Mr. Lamb submitted his altered travel orders as well as a forged DD Form 2278 (Application for Do-It-Yourself Move and Counseling Checklist). Since the documents were filled out correctly and he had a valid military identification card, the clerk[1] prepared a travel voucher for Mr. Lamb's signature. The voucher was loaded into the disbursing system and Mr. Lamb received a Treasury check for $3,630.60. He signed the check register acknowledging receipt of the check. On August 26, 1994, Mr. Lamb submitted his second fraudulent DITY claim at Fort Stewart, this time at the main finance office. He used the same fraudulent orders and submitted another forged DD Form 2278. Since the documents were filled out correctly and he had a valid military identification card, the clerk1 prepared a travel voucher for Mr. Lamb's signature. The voucher was loaded into the disbursing system and he received a Treasury check for $3,613.73. He signed the check register acknowledging receipt of the check. Lieutenant Colonel M.C. Mattingly On August 30, 1994, Mr. Lamb presented his altered travel orders to the transportation office at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Since the documents appeared to be in order and filled out correctly the transportation office prepared and certified a DD Form 2278. Mr. Lamb then took this documentation to the travel branch at the finance office at Fort Jackson. Since the documents were filled out correctly and he had a valid military identification card, the clerk, Ms. Linda Garland, prepared a travel voucher for Mr. Lamb's signature. The lead clerk in the branch audited and certified the travel voucher and loaded it into the disbursing system. Mr. Lamb received a Treasury check for $3,140. He signed the check register acknowledging receipt of the check. Mr.