Fraud investigation continues

ATLANTA --- Government employees have used state-issued purchasing cards for everything from tattoos to concert tickets, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of three years of records.

A program that started as a way for workers to buy office supplies has turned into a spending spree that could rack up $370 million this year, the newspaper's analysis shows.

There are more than 23,000 of the so-called p-cards -- which function like credit cards and are billed to government agencies -- that have been used to buy hundreds of thousands of items. And while state officials say most of the purchases are legitimate, many are raising questions.

Card charges since 2005 include $13 million in travel expenses, nearly $6 million at online retailer Amazon.com, $2.2 million at florists, $9.3 million at restaurants and caterers and $91,000 at jewelers.

The state's purchasing-card policy bans the purchases of gift cards and prohibits using the cards for professional services. It also makes entertainment off-limits, and specifically bans the personal use of the cards.

The cards have come under increased scrutiny after an October audit showed widespread abuse of the cards, a report that prompted Gov. Sonny Perdue to order all 129 state agencies using the cards to review their purchases.

The state's latest review in November of card payments have turned up no new cases of fraud. Mr. Perdue's office said last week that p-card spending is down 23 percent. Almost 1,200 cards have been deactivated, and the state plans to audit several more agencies, including Georgia Tech.

But reviews so far have only covered 6,600 of the cards in use, and not the 10,000 cards used by the state's university system. And 6,400 cards used by county and city governments and school systems aren't subject to Georgia oversight.

State auditors will have their hands full. It's difficult to track the spending, because transactions list vendors and not individual items. And some of the suspicious-looking charges turn out to be authorized.

BACKGROUND: State employees are given purchasing cards to buy office supplies, but an audit found many workers were going on spending sprees.