Pcard | The Contracting Education Academy

June 25, 2015 By AMK

No more charging strippers to Uncle Sam’s plastic

Federal employees who want to gamble or frequent strip clubs for an evening of fun will have to use their own credit cards to pay for it.

An amendment included in the House-passed fiscal 2016 Defense spending bill prohibits Defense civilian workers and military personnel from using government charge cards for expenses related to “gaming, or for entertainment that includes topless or nude entertainers or participants.”

The language specifically prohibits gaming, rather than any expenses at a casino, so lodging and meals, for example, would be exempt.

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., sponsored the amendment, which was adopted on voice vote. The House on Thursday passed the fiscal 2016 Defense spending bill. The full Senate has not yet considered its fiscal 2016 Defense appropriations legislation.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/management/2015/06/no-more-charging-strippers-uncle-sams-plastic/115174

May 21, 2015 By AMK

VA official: Agency spent $5 billion on medical supplies without written contracts

The Veterans Affairs Department has procured billions of dollars worth of drugs, medical devices and other supplies without using written contracts or full and open competition.

VA Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Logistics Jan Frye told the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations May 14 that agency leaders have wasted $5 billion on illegal medical procurements and made a “mockery” of federal acquisition laws.

Frye said VA spent about $1.2 billion on prosthetics bought using purchase cards without any written contracts. That happened over a year-and-a-half period concluding at the the end of last year.

This is all “due to our inexcusable failure to acquire a substantial quantity of goods and services in accordance with federal laws and regulations,” Frye said.

The purchase card abuse was particularly egregious to lawmakers on the subcommittee questioning Frye.

Edward Murray, VA’s acting assistant secretary for management, said the agency has about 25,000 purchase cards in circulation and they were used to make about $3.7 billion in purchases in 2014.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/va-official-agency-spent-5b-medical-supplies-without-written-contracts/2015-05-15

May 13, 2015 By AMK

Pentagon employees used Government charge cards for gambling and ‘adult entertainment’

A not-yet-released Defense Department investigation has found civilian and military employees used government charge cards to make more than $1 million in purchases at casinos and to pay for escorts, according to an internal report

The Pentagon’s inspector general, as first reported by Politico and confirmed by a department official, found Defense employees used the cards for gambling and “adult entertainment” in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The IG initiated the review in 2014 in accordance with the 2012 Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act.

In the one-year period beginning July 1, 2013, Defense cardholders made 4,437 transactions totaling more than $950,000 at casinos using their government cards. Employees made an additional 900 transactions totaling nearly $100,000 at “adult entertainment establishments.” The Pentagon said this represented a small fraction of the total transactions on department-issued cards, coming to less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the charges.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2015/05/pentagon-employees-used-government-charge-cards-gambling-and-adult-entertainment/112186

November 14, 2014 By AMK

Unauthorized commitments violate federal law

A rise in Army personnel entering into agreements on behalf of the government without the authority to do so is causing significant administrative burdens and costs to the service, according to Fort Campbell contracting officials.

Soldiers and civilians from the 922nd Contingency Contracting Battalion are ratifying eight unauthorized commitments valued at more than $123,000. Officials said the amount of hours worked and delayed payments to contractors on each unauthorized commitment are significant.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation defines an unauthorized commitment as “an agreement that is not binding solely because the government representative who made it lacked the authority to enter into that agreement on behalf of the government.”

Only Government Purchase Card holders and contracting officers have the authority to make purchases or award contracts for the Army.

“If you are not one of them, then you don’t have the authority to bind the government to a contract,” said Noryem Maldonado, a contracting officer with the 922nd CCBn.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fortcampbellcourier.com/news/article_aa1b9a94-5561-11e4-8583-7f1d94bd0890.html

October 27, 2014 By AMK

Agencies must improve payment card security by year end

In the wake of massive data breaches involving consumer credit cards, President Barack Obama signed an executive order Friday to strengthen security measures on government credit, debit and payment cards and the readers that scan them.

The new order — part of the president’s BuySecure initiative — requires federal agencies to use chip-and-PIN security on all government-issued cards and update card readers to work with new technology.

“With over 100 million Americans falling victim to data breaches over the last year and millions suffering from credit card fraud and identity crimes, there is a need to act — and to move our economy toward stronger, more secure technologies that better secure transaction and safeguard sensitive date,” the White House said in a statement.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20141017/IT/310170022/Agencies-must-improve-payment-card-security-by-year-end

Federal employees who want to gamble or frequent strip clubs for an evening of fun will have to use their own credit cards to pay for it.

The Veterans Affairs Department has procured billions of dollars worth of drugs, medical devices and other supplies without using written contracts or full and open competition.

A not-yet-released Defense Department investigation has found civilian and military employees used government charge cards to make more than $1 million in purchases at casinos and to pay for escorts, according to an internal report

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