Cooking the Books – TSA style?

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This week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released information about the Transportation Security Administration wasting taxpayers’ money; this time they point to a Texas warehouse holding more than 5,000 pieces of security equipment, valued at upwards of $180 million.

Questions:

1. What percentage of equipment has been stored for more than one year?

2. Based on the information in the article and video, what recommendations would you make if you worked for the inspector general’s office?

3. Representative Issa thinks that the TSA has “cooked the books.” Based on your knowledge of accounting and red flags of fraud, do you agree or disagree? Provide your reasoning.

Source:

CNN videos. (2012). TSA Cooked the Books, CNN.com, May 9 (Retrievable online at www.cnn.com/video

Fox, L. (2012). TSA Puts Millions of Dollars of Equipment in Storage, U.S. News, May 9 (Retrievable online at http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/05/09/tsa-puts-millions-of-dollars-of-equipment-in-storage)

Doctorow, C. (2012). TSA Waste and Corruption: The Greatest Hits, BoingBoing, May 9 (Retrievable online at http://boingboing.net/2012/05/09/tsa-waste-and-corruption-the.html)