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B-199790 1 (1981-03-26)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabjzs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: .. GAO United States General Accounting Offce Washington, DC 20548 General Counsel In Reply Refer to: B-199790 MR2 6 1981 Mr. Dennis J. Keilmanle Acting Assistant Regional Administrator of Administration General Services Administration 230 South Dearborn Street Chicago, Illinois 60604 Dear Mr. Keilman: This letter is in response to your request for reconsideration of our decision \B-199790, August 26, 1980, which held that Mr. Richard Hensel was liable for the loss of $501.05 of General Services Administration (GSA) dmprest funds, stolen from an unlocked safe while in Mr. Hensel's custody as alternate imprest fund cashier. In essence,'the bases for your request are that Mr. Hensel having closed the -door and spun the wheel, reasonably assumed that he had locked the safe; that possibly the loss resulted from GSA having maintained the safe in an open area, easily accessible from the motor pool; and, that Mr. Hensel has since retired and is on retire- ment income.-\ For the reasons stated below, we must still deny relief. Originally, you indicated that Mr. Hensel closed the safe door and turned the wheel, which semi-locked the safe. We were unsure what that meant 'but assumed that the safe was left so that it could be opened by someone without knowledge of the combination. To leave the safe unattended in that condition was negligent. Nothing in your latest letter justifies a different conclusion. FIt is negligent to assume, without trying to open it, that a safe is locked. Indeed, your letter suggests that the safe was left unlocked on other occasionsD We have consistently held thatjan accountable officer who fails to lock a safe, containing public funds in his custody, is negligent and liable for any losses-. See, e.g., B-188733, March 29, 1979. In a similar case, we stated that a reasonably prudent person, even under the pressures of a heavy workload, would nevertheless take the time to spin the combination and lock the safe. B-183559, August 28, 1975. 626/,2:

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