Decision Concerning Former BPA Employee's Claims for Reimbursement of Subsistence and Lodging Expenses
Highlights
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) requested a decision regarding a former employee's per diem and lodging claims, questioning whether the employee: (1) falsified some lodging receipts; (2) submitted sufficient evidence supporting other lodging claims; (3) was entitled to claim rental income lost while occupying his rental property during temporary duty; and (4) could be reimbursed without supervisory verification of voucher expenses. GAO held that: (1) BPA reasonably concluded that the employee falsified some lodging receipts; (2) BPA could deny reimbursement or recover other lodging costs without establishing fraud, if the employee could not adequately support his expense claims; (3) the employee could not claim the lost rental income, since there was no evidence that the property would have been rented during the claim period; and (4) the employee did not require a supervisor's approval of voucher expenses for reimbursement, since supervisory review was limited only to verification that the travel was performed. Accordingly, the claims were allowed in part and denied in part.