Pursuit's Take
In December 2010, OIG reported that an Afghan fuel vendor, National Fuels, Inc., billed Embassy Kabul for $346,682 in fuel that it had not received. OIG conducted this audit to determine whether U.S. Embassy Kabul had implemented adequate controls to safeguard and account for purchased fuel and whether PAE Government Services, Inc. (PAE), the embassy’s operations and maintenance contractor, performed its fuel-monitoring duties in accordance with the statement of work.
The effectiveness of controls to safeguard and account for fuel throughout the receipt and distribution process at Embassy Kabul varied. For example, for a time, the embassy was using flow meters that were not calibrated. OIG determined that this practice may have led to the embassy being overbilled by at least $160,000 between January 2013 and March 2014.
Further, the embassy paid $1.21 million in fuel invoices without proper supporting documentation. The embassy only provided OIG with the invoices for $1.21 million of fuel purchased, and did not provide any documentation supporting the invoice approval and payment during the audit.