Allegations of Accounting System Improprieties Leading to Undetected Overpayments of Principal and Interest at the Bureau of the Public Debt

GAO reviewed allegations made by a former employee of the Bureau of the Public Debt concerning waste, mismanagement, and fraudulent use of Federal funds within the Bureau. Specifically, the employee alleged that: (1) problems in the accounting and internal control systems are permitting overpayments of public debt principal and interest to remain undetected; (2) information on these problems was withheld in a report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on debt collection efforts; and (3) the interest on some types of public debt securities was not recognized on an accrual basis as required by law.