EPA employees used government credit cards for gym memberships, gift cards, meals and even charity donations – all from taxpayer funds

The Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general found 75 of the 80 transactions it examined involved waste, fraud or abuse

The agency's annual credit card bills are 67,000 transactions deep

Some expenditures were reported in categories like 'child care' and 'dance hall,' while others were for untraceable American Express gift cards

In a few cases, EPA employees bought gym memberships for their entire families



A report issued by investigators inside the Environmental Protection Agency found rampant abuse in employees' use of the agency's government credit cards, warning that officials were ignoring a long list of safeguards designed to avoid the waste of taxpayer dollars.

The EPA's Office of Inspector General found $79,254 in 'prohibited, improper or erroneous' spending in a sample of $152,602 in transactions. And more than 93 per cent of the time the employees used the cards, they 'were not in compliance with EPA policies,' the IG wrote.



'These transactions represented purchases of gym memberships, food [and] hotel space,' according to the report. And many purchases were 'split' among two or more transactions in order to avoid spending more than $3,000 at a time – an amount that should trigger more extensive scrutiny.

Some of the 80 transactions the IG chose to audit represented payments to vendors listed in the categories like 'dance hall,' 'child care' or 'theater and music,' the report explains.

Cha-ching! Several EPA employees used taxpayer-funded credit cards to buy themselves -- and their families -- gym memberships

EPA employees with government credit cards spent taxpayer dollars on gym memberships, gift cards, and even charity donations

Seven separate cases were identified where EPA employees bought untraceable gift cards with taxpayer funds.

'In one example, 20 American Express gift cards were purchased for $1,588 to provide on-the-spot awards,' the IG reported.

'There was no third-party verification that any awardees received the gift cards.'

Congress has given the EPA $8.2 billion to spend this year, which is $50 million more than the Obama White House asked for.

Three of the 80 transactions the IG reviewed were for 'gym memberships that required pre-payment for services totaling $2,867.'

'Two of those purchases were for family memberships, and not just the EPA employee,' the report explains.

In addition, 35 per cent of the time the employees with the credit cards never verified that the items they bought were received.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy (C) has her hands full trying to persuade the coal industry that it's not headed for extinction -- and now this ...

Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative anti-tax group in Washington, unearthed the March 4 report on Wednesday.

'An obvious culture of improper spending has developed at the EPA with little to no oversight,' the organization said in a statement. 'Thus in years to come Americans could again find themselves paying for EPA employees' gym memberships, gift cards, and whatever else may strike their fancy.'

ATR president Grover Norquist took it in stride.



'The world is divided in two groups,' Norquist told MailOnline: 'Those who are not surprised that bureaucrats handed credit cards might misuse the opportunity, and those who believe deeply in unicorns.'

'Who is supervising this circus?' he asked.