OPA questions Guam judiciary's $18K in debit card charges

By Pacific Island Times News Staff

The Office of Public Accountability has found unauthorized transactions and undocumented purchases, among other deficiencies, in the Judiciary of Guam's debit card use, resulting in $18,000 in questioned costs.

"Our audit found that while the Judiciary of Guam maintains controls intended to prevent deficit spending, its debit card program did not fully comply with certain provisions of JOG policies and procedures, the Guam procurement law and regulations and the government travel law," OPA said.

The questioned costs accounted for 10 percent of the $173,000 in charges for credit card samples tested and 3 percent of the $684,000 total debit card expenditures.

"Four unauthorized transactions totaling $19 were identified, involving nominal charges from a video game, food delivery service and an e-reader," the report said.

The OPA said these charges, discovered during routine reconciliation, showed no indication of internal misuse.

"Delays in reporting the transactions were due to oversight during monthly reconciliations, which increased exposure to potential fraudulent activity," the report said.

"The fraudulent charges were mostly blocked and those that were missed were posted before they could be addressed. The affected card was one of P&FM’s cards, was canceled, and was replaced to prevent further fraudulent activity."

The audit, which covers the judiciary's debit card transactions from fiscal 2020 through 2024, is the latest in the series of OPA’s broader review of credit and debit card programs across the government of Guam.

The OPA noted that the judiciary had the lowest percentage of questioned costs among the eight credit and debit card audits recently completed. No instances of fraud or abuse were identified in the transactions tested.

Key areas of noncompliance included: untimely reporting of unauthorized transactions; late processing of purchase orders; insufficient procurement documentation; late submission of travel clearance documents; untimely budget modifications for per diem changes; failure to accrue travel miles as required; delayed accounts payable processing; and late and incomplete meeting-purpose documentation.

“JOG has taken steps to monitor its fiscal practices, and our recommendations aim to support those efforts," Public Auditor Benjamin J.F. Cruz said.

"Ensuring timely processing, complete documentation, and proper review will strengthen internal controls and reinforce public confidence in how the Judiciary manages its resources," he added.

OPA recommended actions such as incorporating a secondary reconciliation review, implementing compensating controls, requiring timely travel submissions, and directing the finance administrator to report noncompliance to a higher authority.

Subscribe to

our monthly

digital edition