One of the first government jobs I ever held included research activities. Shortly after arriving on the job, I asked how I could go about purchasing a book for work purposes and expensing the costs. A colleague in a position of authority told me not to worry about the official process for expensing such a small purchase. Rather, she said, just buy the book with your own money and manufacture a taxi receipt in the same amount to reimburse yourself. That's how red tape usually works, encouraging honest employees to engage in deceptive behavior for the sake of practicality.
I thought of that story when I came across the following story [WARNING: Canadian content follows]:
A former civil servant faces criminal charges for allegedly billing about $20,000 worth of unauthorized cab rides to the federal government over a six-year period. Lewis Chiekwe, 61, of Cole Harbour [Nova Scotia] used government taxi chits to pay for trips for personal use between January 2000 and June 2006, the Crown alleges. He was employed in the information technology services division of Public Works and Government Services Canada at the time but is no longer with the government. ... In an interview outside court, Crown attorney Craig Botterill said Mr. Chiekwe used the taxi chits “as if he were using his own private automobile.” The alleged activity went undetected for years until a department employee responsible for vetting the taxi chits couldn't make out the signature on one of the slips.
Maybe Mr. Chiekwe was just reimbursing himself for some work supplies he bought out of his own purse?
As usualy with these stories, the exposure of the criminal act reveals two offenses. First, the guy who bilked the system for personal gain. Then the system itself and its monitors, which failed in its oversight and proved all to easy to manipulate.
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