Audit highlights excessive FBI overtime in Iraq
Posted: 01:12 PM ET
By Terry Frieden
CNN Justice Department Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) — FBI agents temporarily deployed to Iraq received an average of about $45,000 in excessive overtime because they billed the government for 16 hours a day throughout their 90-day assignments, according to a Justice Department audit.
The audit, released Thursday by Inspector General Glenn Fine, found the agents routinely submitted the overtime with the blessing of their managers from 2003 through 2007. The report says the excessive overtime totaled $7.8 million.
“The FBI inappropriately permitted employees to regularly claim overtime for activities that are not compensable as work, such as time spent eating meals, exercising more than 3 hours per week, and socializing,” the report said. The socializing included going to movies and cocktail parties.