FederalDaily - June 7, 2005

Troubles Tracking DoD Payments

Over the years, the Department of Defense (DoD) has recorded billions of dollars of disbursements and collections in suspense accounts—because the proper accounts could not be identified and charged. Because documentation about these payments could not be found after so many years, DoD received authority to write off certain transactions. After decades of financial management and accounting weaknesses, DoD was unable to determine the true value of the write-offs, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said. While DoD records show that a net value of $629 million was written off, GAO said that figure is not reliable. Just as an individual who maintains multiple checking accounts must be sure that transactions are recorded to the proper account, DoD also must ensure that the proper account is charged for each of its transactions, GAO said.

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Problems with Processing Veterans’ Claims

For years, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability claims process has been the subject of concern, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said. Many of the concerns have focused on long waits for decisions, large claims backlogs and the accuracy of decisions. There are concerns over the consistency of decision-making within VA’s 57 regional offices, as media reports have shown wide variations in average disability benefit payments from state to state. The GAO report said the number of pending claims increased by about one-third from the end of fiscal year 2003 to the end of March 2005. In response to the report, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President John Gage said, “VA workers are told to do more with less each year…in the end, everybody gets shortchanged.”

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IRS Contractor Sentenced for Stealing $2.7 Million

Former IRS contractor Edmond Nkem Ekene and his co-conspirator, Theophilos Oluyinka Okuribido, have been sentenced to federal prison for stealing taxpayer checks from an IRS lockbox in Richardson, Texas, according to the Department of Justice. Ekene was sentenced to 71 months imprisonment and Okuribido was sentenced to 96 months imprisonment and deportation to Nigeria following release from prison. Also, they will be ordered to pay approximately $200,000 in restitution. Under a contract with the IRS, Bank of America maintained a lockbox for taxpayers’ payments. The bank hired Ekene as a temporary employee. Ekene stole around $2.7 million in funds sent to the lockbox. He stole remittance checks; altered the checks to change the payee from the IRS to fictitious and fraudulent names; deposited the stolen checks into bank accounts he and Okuribido had opened; and withdrew the money.

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New Definition of Air Traffic Controllers

The Office of Personnel Management recently issued a new interim rule relating to the definition of air traffic controllers (ATCs) for retirement purposes. The new definition of ATC includes the class of employees traditionally considered to be ATCs—that is, civilian employees of the Department of Transportation or the Department of Defense working in air traffic control facilities or flight service station facilities as either frontline ATCs or immediate supervisors (first-level supervisors) of frontline ATCs. It also expands the class of individuals eligible for special ATC retirement benefits to include second-level supervisors (i.e., supervisors of immediate supervisors of frontline ATCs). The newly added ATCs are not subject to mandatory retirement.

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