Can you spell c-h-a-r-g-e it?
School employees using Department of Education-issued credit cards rack up about $17 million in purchases a year, but an internal audit found lax oversight and rampant abuse in the spending sprees.
More than 30 percent of the spending is fraudulent, an audit suggests.
In a probe of just $238,070 charged by “procurement card” holders at 23 schools, the DOE’s Office of Auditor General said documentation for purchases totaling $89,191 was “unavailable.”
When receipts were found, auditors flagged $75,967 in improper or “questionable” purchases including excessive faculty meals and parties, Netflix subscriptions, windshield wipers, wine glasses, holiday cards, iTunes music, a stereo system, carpet and paintings. Other buys from the Apple Store, Target, Radio Shack, Best Buy and pharmacies could not be explained by school officials, the report says.
Auditors found no evidence, such as packing slips or bills of lading, that schools even received $63,353 in purchased goods. Another $3,359 was spent on gift cards or movie tickets for “student incentives” without logging which kids got them.
The P-card abuses came to light last December, when Kappry Vera, a secretary at the Urban Assembly School for Construction and Design in Hell’s Kitchen, was accused of making more than $3,000 in personal purchases, including $765 in visits to McDonald’s.
But taxpayers have picked up a much bigger tab for Big Macs and fries, among other fast food.
Records over the last two school years show P-card holders racked up more than 500 tabs at McDonald’s — from $5 to $1,000 each — totaling $66,992. The DOE gave no explanation.
Overall, hundreds of thousands of dollars are charged at restaurants, pizzerias, delis, grocery stores and even meat markets.
In its peek at a tiny slice of P-card spending at the 23 schools, last year’s audit also found food for after-hours faculty meetings at 10 schools exceeded the allowable limit of $8 per person, for overpayments of $7,944.
The audit also found $896 spent on food and decorations for faculty holiday parties, $2,787 on faculty food and refreshments during regular school hours, and $5,080 on catering for meetings in which teachers also got overtime pay.
The audit also rapped “a lack of internal controls,” citing one P-card left in a secretary’s unlocked desk drawer.
The Post found records of $32,000 in refunds for fraudulent P-card use over two years. The DOE would not say how the fraud occurred or whether anyone was arrested.
A similar audit, by the city Comptroller’s office, of P-card charges at five schools found no justification for five Kindles costing $775, two sofabeds for $679 from Target, and $194 from Costco logged as a refrigerator but invoiced as movie tickets.
DOE officials said P-card holders must now submit monthly statements of their purchases for review, or risk suspension or loss of the card.