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Charges at bars during the Super Bowl, withdrawals from casino ATM machines and Roblox game purchases were among $500,000 of worrisome spending that went unnoticed on government credit cards in 2023, according to a Pentagon watchdog report. (U.S. Army)

Charges at bars during the Super Bowl, withdrawals from casino ATM machines and Roblox game purchases were among $500,000 of worrisome spending that went unnoticed on government credit cards in 2023, according to a Pentagon watchdog report.

The Defense Department inspector general found the problematic spending during fiscal 2023, which ended Sept. 30, 2023, according to the report released Jan. 21. Much of the money went under the radar because 1/3 of program supervisors were not using available data systems to track potentially fraudulent spending.

The credit cards are issued to employees and service members to cover the cost of work-related travel and do allow for cash withdrawals, according to the report. The contracts for the cards require certain fraud prevention measures be in place, and last week’s report focused on strengthening those guardrails.

While 70% of the $6.4 billion charged on 2.3 million government cards that year was found to be appropriate, 12% was inadvertently spent on the wrong things, such as alcohol or in Google’s online store for games, smartphone applications and video streaming services. Inspectors also found cards used on federal holidays and during major sporting events when employees were unlikely to have work expenses.

About 2% of spending was considering abuse and less than 1% fraud, according to the report.

That’s down from a decade ago, when the inspector general found about $1 million had been charged to government cards at casinos and adult entertainment venues.

The most egregious case highlighted by the IG was an Air Force airman who withdrew more than $10,500 from two Maryland casinos between April and August 2023. The airman tried the card nine more times totaling $3,500, but those transactions were rejected because the card had reached its spending limit.

That service member received nonjudicial punishment after the Air Force program manager reached out to the commander a year after the problem began, according to the report.

The inspector general made 15 recommendations to review, update and create rules to better identify high-risk merchants and transactions, and better ensure that program supervisors are watching how much is spent using online spending data. It specifically called for transactions be flagged for review that involve Everi, the company behind the casino ATMs used by the airman. It had recently changed its name, according to the report.

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Rose L. Thayer is based in Austin, Texas, and she has been covering the western region of the continental U.S. for Stars and Stripes since 2018. Before that she was a reporter for Killeen Daily Herald and a freelance journalist for publications including The Alcalde, Texas Highways and the Austin American-Statesman. She is the spouse of an Army veteran and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in journalism. Her awards include a 2021 Society of Professional Journalists Washington Dateline Award and an Honorable Mention from the Military Reporters and Editors Association for her coverage of crime at Fort Hood.

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