[Request for Review of Disallowed Claim]

A Navy employee requested a review of the Claims Group's disallowance of his claim for a refund of money collected from him as reimbursement for the payment of transportation charges for weight in excess of the authorized allowance. The employee claimed that the carrier fraudulently inflated the weight of his goods, contending that: (1) he had never previously shipped goods weighing as much as the amount in contention; (2) the estimate prior to the move was for a much lower weight; (3) he obtained estimates from two other carriers after the move indicating that his goods weighed less than the charge; and (4) the carrier deliberately delivered his goods on a Sunday when no certified scales were open in order to avoid a reweigh. GAO found that: (1) the employee owed the government the amount of the charges incurred incident to the shipment of the excess weight; (2) the question of whether his goods exceeded authorized weights is for administrative determination which GAO does not question in the absence of fraud or clear error; (3) the employee's suspicions and conjectures concerning the fraudulent weight inflation of his goods were not sufficient evidence to establish the presence of fraud; and (4) an allegation that the carrier was suspended from further dealing with the Navy, if correct, does not provide evidence of fraud in a prior case. Accordingly, the Claims Group's disallowance was affirmed.