Liability of accountable officers

Army Lawyer, Jan-Feb, 2003

For the Love of Pets

In Relief of Accountable Officers--American Embassy, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. (1) the General Accounting Office (GAO) determined that the U.S. Department of State provided insufficient information to either grant or deny relief from liability for a U.S. Embassy employee. In 1991, widespread violence required the U.S. Embassy staff in Kinshasa, Zaire, to evacuate to the embassy in Brazzaville, Congo. Ms. Slocum, the administrative officer for the Brazzaville Embassy, denied requests from Kinshasa embassy personnel to evacuate their pets, and she informed them that such expenses were personal and not payable with government funds. Some unknown person evacuated the pets on Air Afrique, but no one could establish who authorized or arranged the evacuation. Air Afrique later billed the embassy employees for the pet evacuation. (2)

In June 1993, violence again required the Brazzaville Embassy personnel to evacuate. Air Afrique demanded $27,634.07 for the 1991 Kinshaza pet evacuation before it would agree to evacuate the embassy personnel. Ms. Slocum relied on Kinshasa embassy staff instructions and paid Air Afrique from Kinshasa's Suspense Deposit Abroad (SDA) account. The SDA account is "a fund maintained at overseas posts from which payments for personal expenses can be made on behalf of and as directed by" embassy employees and other authorized individuals. (3) Normally, embassy personnel deposit funds into the account before any withdrawals, but there was no record of any deposits into the SDA account before Ms. Slocum's payment. (4) The Department of State Chairperson for the Committee of Inquiry into Fiscal Irregularities (Committee) requested that the GAO relieve Ms. Slocum from liability. (5)

The GAO is authorized to relieve certifying officers of liability for the loss of public money when "the certification is based on official records and the official did not know and by reasonable diligence and inquiry could not have discovered the correct information." (6) The Committee, however, failed to provide the information needed to grant or deny this relief. (7) The GAO acknowledged the "less than ideal" circumstances surrounding the payment, but required more specific information to "evaluate the circumstances of the Air Afrique payment, the liabilities of the parties involved, and whether any relief is warranted." (8) Major Davis.

(1.) Letter from the U.S. General Accounting Office to Mr. Ronald L. Miller, Chairperson, Committee of Inquiry into Fiscal Irregularities, U.S. Department of State (May 29, 2002) [hereinafter GAO Letter] (on file with author). Zaire is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. CountryWatch.com, Congo (DRC) (Jan. 10, 2003), at http://www.countrywatch.com/cw_country.asp?vcountry=40.

(2.) GAO Letter, supra note 1, at 1-2. Ms. Slocum learned about the pet evacuation from a cable communication indicating that Embassy personnel were billed for pet evacuations.

(3.) Id. at 2.

(4.) Id. Embassy employees would deposit money into the fund "from which payments for personal expenses could be made on behalf of and as directed by the depositors." Id.

(5.) Id. at 1.

(6.) Id. at 2 (citing 31 U.S.C. [section] 3528(b)(1)(A) (2002)).

(7.) Specifically, the GAO considered the following factors:

   the authority under which the Embassy holds and administers the
   SDA account; the accountability guidance or procedures regarding the
   administration of the SDA account; the role/identity of the Kinshasa
   Embassy official who approved the payment and the State Department's
   view of that individuals responsibility in the matter; the specific
   source of the payment and the role/identity of the disbursing officer
   who paid Air Afrique, and the State Department's view of that
   individual's responsibility in this matter.

Id. at 4-5.

(8.) Id. at 3. The GAO indicated that other personnel, including the disbursing officer, could be liable for the improper payment. Id. at 3.