Navy defends purchase card numbers

Control Weaknesses Leave Two Navy Units Vulnerable to Fraud and Abuse

Reports of purchase card fraud at two Navy facilities are over.blown, according to Navy officials, who said they are moving quickly to ensure that money is being spent correctly.

A General Accounting Office report released in conjunction with a July 30 House subcommittee hearing found that too many people at two Navy centers in San Diego have government-issued credit cards, thereby making it difficult to institute proper monitors and controls. The lack of controls in some cases enabled employees to buy computers, flat-panel monitors and high-end Coach briefcases.

The GAO report said 36 percent of personnel at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and 16 percent of personnel at the Naval Supply Systems Command were given the purchase cards, which are credit cards that can be used for official government purchases of less than $2,500.

Navy officials defended the program and said purchase cards have streamlined ordering processes by eliminating reams of paperwork for small-ticket items.

Capt. John Surash, commander of the Navy Public Works Center in San Diego, said he recently instituted reforms of the center's purchase card program that include reducing the number of people with cards. "It is much improved over what the GAO saw when they did their review," he told lawmakers.

Navy officials argued that some of the items that GAO listed as unnecessary can be justified. Flat-panel monitors, for example, use less space on already crowded ships and use less energy in power-starved California, officials said.

Although there were some problems — the Coach briefcase, for example — those have been addressed, officials said.