TITLE: B-305885, Relief of Accountable Officers Emery Banguid & Frank Forgione, U.S. Embassy, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, September 2, 2005
BNUMBER: B-305885
DATE: September 2, 2005
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B-305885, Relief of Accountable Officers Emery Banguid & Frank Forgione, U.S. Embassy, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, September 2, 2005

   B-305885

   September 2, 2005

   Sheila O. Conley

   Chair, Committee of Inquiry

   into Fiscal Irregularities

   United States Department of State

   Washington, D.C. 20520

   Subject: Relief of Accountable Officers Emery Banguid & Frank Forgione
   U.S. Embassy, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo

   Dear Ms. Conley:

   This responds to your letter of June 27, 2005, requesting that we relieve
   Mr. Emery Banguid and Mr. Frank Forgione of liability for the loss in 1997
   of $21,403.04 from the U.S. Embassy in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.
   For the following reasons, we grant relief.

   BACKGROUND

   On June 5, 1997, as civil war broke out in the Republic of the Congo,
   Foreign Service National employees were ordered to leave the U.S. Embassy
   amid sporadic shooting in the capital, Brazzaville. Among those ordered to
   leave was alternate Class B Cashier Emery Banguid. (The regular embassy
   cashier had been on leave and had transferred his functions to Mr. Banguid
   as an alternate.) Upon Mr. Banguid's departure, the cashier's safe was
   locked and only routine documents that were being routed for signature or
   comment were left out of the safe. According to embassy staff, those
   documents included invoices, receipts, vouchers for payments, and similar
   paperwork of the type that would have been left out at the end of a
   routine business day. Letter from Sheila O. Conley, Chair, Committee of
   Inquiry into Fiscal Irregularities, Department of State, to Anthony H.
   Gamboa, General Counsel, GAO, June 27, 2005 (Conley letter). At the time
   of Mr. Banguid's departure, U.S. citizen employees were still present at
   the embassy.

   Amid escalating violence, the entire embassy staff was evacuated on June
   11, 1997. The Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) opened the alternate cashier's
   safe, verified the cash on hand, and removed items from the safe that
   required action by the financial service center (FSC) in Paris to bring to
   Kinshasa for processing. Due to lack of space and time, the DCM could not
   take all of the documents that were in the safe and did not locate interim
   receipts for the four embassy sub-cashiers. Temporary Duty (TDY)
   Administrative Officer Frank Forgione accepted the cash and documentation
   from the DCM and was evacuated to Kinshasa. Mr. Forgione continued to draw
   against the cash on hand to cover payroll and operating expenses until
   August 1, 1997, when he transferred the remaining cash to Kinshasa's Class
   B cashier.

   After the evacuation, the embassy compound was vandalized and the safe in
   the chancery was broken into, resulting in missing documentation,
   including some cash.Because not all of the missing documentation could be
   recovered, subsequent attempts to reconcile the cash accounts of the
   alternate cashier resulted in a shortage.

   During clean-up operations at the chancery in March 1998, embassy staff
   recovered partial cashier files of items on-hand and in-transit, and four
   cashier replenishment checks, which were cancelled and sent to FSC Paris.
   According to the Committee of Inquiry into Fiscal Irregularities
   (Committee), embassy staff undertook further efforts to recover missing
   documentation from the June 1997 evacuation, including:
   (1) locating a missing payroll electronic funds transfer on March 24,
   2000, at a local Brazzaville bank; (2) locating two cash boxes in Kinshasa
   belonging to a travel sub-cashier and to an administrative assistant,
   which contained cash and receipts; and, (3) in July 2000, Mr. Banguid
   located further documentation covering collections, accommodation
   exchange, and interim advances.

   In November 2001, after FSC Paris had completed processing all of the
   newly found documentation, there was still no documentation for CFA Francs
   8,085,703 (US $13,925.19) and $7,572.85. The deficiency totals $21,403.04.
   Because the shortage of funds was determined to have occurred sometime
   during the evacuation, both Messrs. Banguid and Forgione were considered
   accountable officers responsible for the deficiency. The Committee found
   that although embassy personnel were not able to account for all of the
   missing funds, there was no fault or negligence on the part of Alternate
   Cashier Emery Banguid or TDY Administrative Officer Frank Forgione. The
   Committee also found no evidence of an illegal or incorrect payment.

   DISCUSSION

   Under 31 U.S.C. sect. 3527, our Office may relieve accountable officers of
   responsibility for a physical loss of funds if we concur in the
   determination by the agency that: (a) the loss occurred while the
   accountable officer was carrying out official duties, and (b) the loss was
   not the result of fault or negligence on the part of the accountable
   officer. Once this determination is made, we are authorized to grant
   relief. See B-300677, June 19, 2003; B-229753, Dec. 30, 1987.

   The presumption that accountable officers have been negligent when a
   physical loss of funds for which they are responsible occurs can be
   rebutted by evidence to the contrary. B-230796, Apr. 8, 1988. We have
   previously granted relief to accountable officers when the evidence is
   clear that an unforeseen or emergency event has occurred beyond the
   control of the accountable officer. For example, the loss of funds has
   been determined to have occurred without fault or negligence on the part
   of the accountable officer, and relief has been granted where the loss was
   due to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center
   (B-300677,
   June 19, 2003); to a fire (B-212515, Dec. 21, 1983); to an attack on or
   escalating violence involving an embassy or mission overseas (B-249372,
   Aug. 13, 1992;
   B-229753, Dec. 30, 1987; B-203726, July 10, 1981; B-194666, Aug. 6, 1979);
   to theft
   (B-265856, Nov. 9, 1995; B-261261, Aug. 31, 1995; B-195435, Sept. 12,
   1979); and to a prison riot (B-232252, Jan. 5, 1989; B-230796, Apr. 8,
   1988).

   In this case, the Committee of Inquiry into Fiscal Irregularities at the
   Department of State has made the requisite determination that the loss
   occurred while Messrs. Banguid and Forgione were acting in the discharge
   of their official duties as alternate cashier and TDY administrative
   officer, respectively, and that it was caused by circumstances beyond
   their control and not attributable to fault or negligence on their part.
   Since the loss of funds resulted from the emergency evacuation and
   subsequent vandalism of the U.S. Embassy in Brazzaville, we agree that the
   loss was not the result of fault or negligence on the part of either Mr.
   Banguid or Mr. Forgione.

   We therefore grant relief to Mr. Banguid and Mr. Forgione in the amount of
   $21,403.04. The loss may be charged to the proper appropriation in
   accordance with 31 U.S.C. sect. 3527.

   Sincerely yours,

   /signed/

   Susan A. Poling

   Managing Associate General Counsel

   cc: Mr. Emery Banguid

   Mr. Frank Forgione

   DIGEST

   Relief is granted to a Class B Cashier and an Administrative Officer for
   the loss of $21,403.04 from the U.S. Embassy in Brazzaville, Republic of
   the Congo. The loss resulted from the emergency evacuation and subsequent
   looting of the embassy during a local civil war, and GAO concurs with the
   Department of State that the loss occurred without fault or negligence on
   the part of either the cashier or the administrative officer.