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B-193416 1 (1979-10-25)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabjpe0001 and id is 1 raw text is: UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE 1C4 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL B-193416 OCT 25 1979 Ms. Heather L. Ross Deputy Assistant Secretary Department of the Interior A 6-co'o-3- Dear Ms. Ross: Tf -O This is in response to yourrequest for relief FA, prih ; L i, for losses ate eecioiFieQ in airimprest fund of the U.S. Bureau of Mines Branch of Pro- curement, Denver, Colorado. Ms. Holecek was assigned an imprest fund of $3,000. She reassigned $360 to Ms. Billbe by receipt. On August 8, 1977, Ms. Billbe opened her safe and found that $355 was missing. An immediate audit to verify the loss was performed, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service were notified. On August 16, Ms. Holecek discovered her cash box missing from her locked safe. It was subsequently determined that $1,181.59 had been taken. When Ms. Holecek reported to work on August 22, she found on her desk an envelope containing $901. Because your agency is not sure which cashier's account should be credited with the returned money it is not clear that both losses are under $500 and therefore a matter for administrative adjustment. Therefore, we will accept jurisdiction. When an unexplained shortage or loss occurs in the account of an accountable officer, the shortage or loss itself is sufficient to raise a presumption of negligence. See, e.g., 48 Comp. Gen. 566, 567 (1969). Relief cannot be granted unless this presumption is rebutted by specific, complete and convincing evidence. B-187139, October 25, 1978. Evidence of theft can overcome the presumption, if it can also be shown that the accountable officer was not implicated in the theft and that no negligent act or omission of the accountable officer contributed to the theft. B-167126, August 28, 1978. While there is no evidence here of forcible entry or a break-in, the disappearance of Ms. Holecek's entire cash box and its contents from a secured safe indicates that the second loss was probably due to theft. B-184028, March 2, 1976. At the time Ms. Billbe discovered her earlier loss, no explanation could be given. But the disappearance of Ms. Holecek's entire cash box just a week later indicates that Ms. Billbe's loss was probably in some way related to Ms. Holecek's loss and that it, too, was probably due to theft. djk

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