Pentagon to investigate casino, strip club expenses

Congress has asked the Pentagon to investigate whether Defense Department employees billed the government for visits to casinos and strip clubs.

In a memo released this week, Michael Roark, assistant inspector general at the Pentagon, said his office would begin an audit this month at the behest of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Our objective is to determine whether DoD cardholders who used government travel cards at casinos and adult entertainment establishments for personal use sought or received reimbursement for the charges,” Roark wrote in the memo.

{mosads}The latest investigation is a follow-up to a May report from the Pentagon inspector general on the same issue.

The May report found that from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014, Defense Department cardholders made 4,437 transactions worth $952,258 at casinos. Also, there were 900 transactions worth $96,576 at strip clubs, according to the report.

The May report highlighted one case where a senior airman was demoted after spending $4,686 at Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club in Las Vegas.

Other specific strip club expenses found by the report include $308 at Dreams Cabaret, $2,100 at Vegas Showgirls and $1,614 at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club.

Of the 886 transactions the inspector general alerted the military services to when conducting the May report, action was taken on 367. Action included counseling, training, reprimanding and demoting, according to the report.

In Roark’s memo, he said the new audit be done at the Defense Travel Management Office in Alexandria.

The audit will look into whether anyone was disciplined for misusing his or her credit card.

“We will determine whether disciplinary actions have been taken in cases of personal use and if the misuse was reported to the appropriate security office,” Roark wrote.