HUD has not “successfully implemented necessary internal controls” over its travel and purchase cards, an IG report has said, pointing to questionable charges including ones made by employees not recorded as being on travel at the time and at least one by an employee after separating from the department.
Auditors identified 3,671 instances of cardholders using travel card without an approved official temporary duty station travel document; the transactions totaled $528,000.
Another 85 purchase card transactions totaling $96,000 had indicators of possible misuse such as split purchases to remain under thresholds that would have triggered greater scrutiny or a requirement for a competitive bid.
“While HUD stated that it had implemented controls to identify cardholder travel card program violations, it did not successfully identify patterns of abuse,” the report said. “Additionally, although HUD monitors purchase card use through periodic reviews, the purchase card program’s internal controls needed improvement.”
