The General Services Administration’s penchant for luxury hotels and lax spending rules was evident long before its $800,000 Las Vegas soiree.
A Washington Times investigation revealed that the agency allowed employees to book extra nights at resorts and spas on the taxpayer’s dime, tolerated workers skipping out on training to enjoy their posh lodgings, and did little to enforce the proper use of agency credit cards.
The earlier episode didn’t reach that level of [Las Vegas] extravagance, but it did prove serious enough for the GSA’s watchdog agency to launch a full investigation for more than a year into a travel-fraud allegation involving an official in the customer accounts and research office of the GSA's Federal Acquisition Service in Kansas City.
The investigation widened to include a review of companies with whom the GSA official was affiliated and the official’s relationship with "certain individuals and contractors," records show.
Documents detailing the probe were provided to The Washington Times by the GSA's Office of Inspector General in response to an open-records request, though officials redacted the names of the officials involved, citing privacy and other reasons.