Giving $250,000 Limit Credit Cards To FEMA Employees draws fire

Some of the cards with lower limits in the past were used to pay for prostitutes, gambling activity, even breast implants, government audits have shown.

Purchases are billed directly to the government, making it difficult to recover losses from wayward federal employees intent on fraud because of the time lag from the purchase date to subsequent billing.

Cronyism also is a danger, as officials have more leeway under the higher limit to purchase more expensive supplies from politically connected companies without the benefit of open bidding and competition. Even if they're detected, time-strapped agency directors often don't pursue disciplinary action, according to audit reports.

In recent years, several GAO audits found hundreds of thousands of dollars of improper expenditures at the Pentagon and other agencies, from purchases of remote control helicopters and airline tickets to Palm Pilots and $2,500 flat-panel computer monitors. Someone even bought a dog.

Navy personnel also in 2002 used separate government travel cards to hire prostitutes at brothels, gamble and attend New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers games. One civil employee ran up nearly $35,000 in personal expenses over two years, including breast enlargement surgery for his girlfriend.