Civilian and military employees of the Department of Defense (DoD) have used government credit cards to gamble and pay for escort services, an internal audit found.

The Pentagon inspector general’s office is about to release a report that some members of the armed services and civilian workers had charges made at casinos and at businesses offering escort services in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

A Pentagon official told Politico that it’s possible the department may not have paid the charges because those issued DoD credit cards pay their monthly bills and then request reimbursement. The official also said that the employees may have used the government cards for gambling and escort services “in order to shield the charges from spouses,” according to Bryan Bender of Politico.

This kind of misuse of government credit cards was supposed to end with the passage of the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012, which required agencies to keep better track of purchases using such cards.

Since the audit was of the credit card system and not individual users, there will be no sanctions against cardholders, but they’re likely to be warned about improper use of government cards.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Pentagon Credit Cards Used For Gambling, Escorts (by Bryan Bender, Politico)

Poker and Escorts on Government Credit Cards (by Brianna Ehley, Fiscal Times)