U.S. Forest Service-Request for relief of liability of Juanita Jimenez, B-303177, October 20, 2004

B-303177 Oct 20, 2004 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights We deny relief for a Forest Service certifying officer who certified duplicate payments in the amount of $5,631.85 to a vendor for emergency fire equipment during a fire emergency in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We find that the certifying officer failed to act with the requisite amount of care and due diligence when she certified payments based upon carbon copies of original invoices that she had previously certified for payment. View Decision B-303177, U.S. Forest Service-Request for relief of liability of Juanita Jimenez, October 20, 2004 B-303177 October 20, 2004 Hank Kashdan Acting Associate Deputy Chief For Business Operations U.S. Forest Service Subject: U.S. Forest Service-Request for relief of liability of Juanita Jimenez Dear Mr. Kashdan: This responds to your letter dated May 13, 2004, requesting a determination of liability of Juanita Jimenez, a certifying officer, for duplicate payments totaling5,631.85. You also requested that we relieve the certifying officer of any liability if the circumstances of the erroneous payment so warrant. For the reasons discussed below, we find that the certifying officer is liable for the duplicate payments; we are unable, however, to grant relief from that liability. Background In September 2001, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest (GPNF) experienced a rare forest fire within its boundaries. The Forest Service contracted with Evergreen Bus Service (Evergreen) for transportation in connection with its firefighting operations. Between September 18 and 24, 2001, Evergreen's bus drivers and Forest Service employees working at the fire site prepared four invoices for payment of Evergreen, totaling5,631.85, and transmitted the four invoices to the fiscal management office at GPNF headquarters for certification of payment. May 13 request, attachments. Each of the four invoices was prepared on an Agriculture Department form, "Optional Form 286," entitled "Emergency Equipment - Use Invoice," rather than on Evergreen's own invoice stock. Nevertheless, each of the four invoices was signed by an Evergreen representative, and Forest Service staff working at the fire site transmitted them to GPNF's fiscal management office for payment to Evergreen. The certifying officer manually certified the four invoices for payment on September 25, 2001. On September 26, 2001, GPNF headquarters received from Evergreen four additional invoices. [2] Unlike the earlier four invoices, Evergreen prepared these four invoices on its own invoice stock and submitted them directly to GPNF's fiscal management office, not through Forest Service staff working at the fire site. Attached to two of these invoices were carbon copies of two of the earlier "Emergency Equipment - Use Invoices;" printed at the bottom of the carbons is the word "contractor," indicating that the carbon is the contractor's copy of that form. See financial documents. Attached to the other two of these invoices were photocopies of the other two earlier "Emergency Equipment - Use Invoices." Id. These invoices were for the exact amounts and for the same services as the payments that Ms. Jimenez certified on September 25, 2001. July 30 memo at 2. The certifying officer manually certified one of these four invoices on September 27, 2001. Chronology at 1. The certifying officer manually certified the remaining three of these invoices on October 5, 2001. Id. According to your letter, in October 2001 GPNF discovered that the four invoices submitted on September 26, which Ms. Jimenez certified on September 27 and October 5 were for services for which GPNF had already paid Evergreen. GPNF sought repayment from Evergreen. May 13 request at 1; Chronology at 1-2; May 29 memo at 1. GPNF officials contacted the National Finance Center [3] in a failed effort to stop payment on the checks and also made numerous phone calls to Evergreen to resolve the improper payments. Chronology at 1. Additionally, GPNF sent two bills to Evergreen for repayment. On April 12, 2002, Evergreen forwarded a check for the full amount of the duplicate payments,5,631.85; however, Evergreen did not have sufficient funds to cover the amount of the check. Id. Evergreen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2002, and informed GPNF that it would resume paying its debts when the bankruptcy court so ordered. May 13 request at 2; May 29 memo at 1. GPNF consulted with the Office of General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture to determine the best manner to seek collection of the duplicate payment from Evergreen. In October 2002, the Office of General Counsel advised GPNF to cease collection efforts due to the bankruptcy proceedings. May 29 memo at 2; Chronology at 2. The Forest Service reviewed the actions of the certifying officer leading to the improper duplicate payment. July 30 memo at 2; May 13 request at 1.