B-161457 November 22, 1978
Highlights
Rushton: This is in response to your letter of September 5. Disbursing officers are held personally and pecuniarily accountable for the expenditures of funds placed under their control. 4 Comp. Disbursing officers are personally liable for payments made on forged or fraudulent vouchers or pay receipts even though they were not participants in the fraud. Are also responsible for erroneous payments or for errors in their accounts. Even though they relied on their assistants and the errors were cause by those assistants. The Comptroller General must determine that "such payment was not the result of bad faith or lack of due care on the part of such disbursing officer.". You may be relieved of liability for relying on the work of subordinants and other employees provided you follow established procedures and this Office find's that the payment was otherwise not the result of a lack of care or of bad faith on your part.
B-161457 November 22, 1978
Mrs. V. Rushton Disbursing Officer 7726 Military Sealift Command Department of the navy Washington, D.C. 20390
Dear Mrs. Rushton:
This is in response to your letter of September 5, 1978, (your reference M-54/VR), in which you express concern over your personal liability as a disbursing officer within the Department of the Navy. Disbursing officers are held personally and pecuniarily accountable for the expenditures of funds placed under their control. 4 Comp. Dec. 332. Disbursing officers are personally liable for payments made on forged or fraudulent vouchers or pay receipts even though they were not participants in the fraud, and are also responsible for erroneous payments or for errors in their accounts, even though they relied on their assistants and the errors were cause by those assistants. Navy Comptroller Manual Vol., 4 Ch. 1, Part V, Sections III and IV.
As you probably know, if any deficiency exists or occurs in your official disbursing accounts as a result of your making any illegal, improper, or incorrect payment, the head of this Office, the Comproller General, or his designee, has the authority to relieve you from any financial liability and to allow a credit in your official disbursing accounts for any such deficiency. The controlling statute, 31 U.S.C. Sec. 82a-(a) (1976), requires that before relief may be granted, the Comptroller General must determine that "such payment was not the result of bad faith or lack of due care on the part of such disbursing officer." Whether this Office would grant you relief for making any illegal, improper, or incorrect payment would be determined on the basis of the particular facts and circumstances surrounding the payment. In answer to your basic question, you may be relieved of liability for relying on the work of subordinants and other employees provided you follow established procedures and this Office find's that the payment was otherwise not the result of a lack of care or of bad faith on your part.
In this regard, if you believe a payment to be improper or illegal, it would be an indication of good faith if you requested an opinion from your Department's legal officers. You would be guaranteed protection if you exercised your statutory right to apply for and obtain a decision by the Comptroller General on any question of law involved in the payment of a voucher presented to you for certification.
You have informally advised a member of my staff that you are particularly concerned about office procedures used in the Military Sealift Command and their effect on your liability as a disbursing officer. The exact nature of your concern is not clear; however, it is important that you follow the procedures established by your Department. You should also follow any additional procedures established by the Military Sealift Command. Normally, compliance with these instructions would be consistenet with a determination that an illegal, improper, or incorrect payment was not the result of a lack of due care.
Sincerely yours,
Rollee H. Efros Assistant General Counsel