Bureaucrat gone bad: shopping spree included Vegas vacation, virtual game

OTTAWA - The Aboriginal Affairs Department called in an auditor after one of its managers went on a wild, taxpayer-funded shopping spree, new documents show.

A bureaucrat in the Northwest Territories charged tens of thousands of dollars to government credit cards for a Vegas vacation, pricey pizza dinners and an online game where users can spend real money in a virtual world.

When the misbehaving manager got caught two-and-a-half years into her splurge, she was nearly $40,000 in the hole.

"Her actions were not impulsive and/or compulsive. They have been found to be premeditated," says a briefing note to top officials.

"She took steps to cover up what she had taken as personal expenses. She crossed out her personal expenses from bills presented for signature to the director.

"She also stated to a security staff member that she 'knew she'd get caught, she just didn't think it would take them this long.'"

The woman worked as a manager in the Indian and Inuit Services Directorate in Yellowknife. Her name and job title are blacked out in documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

A random review of the department's credit cards found a big unpaid balance and some eyebrow-raising purchases on her work Visa and American Express.

The woman spent close to $4,000 on an online game called Second Life, where players create cartoon-like alter egos called avatars to interact with each other in a three-dimensional, virtual world.

The manager and her husband took a trip to Las Vegas in February 2010, where they spent five nights at the Circus Circus hotel and casino at a cost of $2,000.

She used the credit cards to shop at Wal-Mart, Northern Fancy Meats and Staples. Once she charged almost $100 for pizza. She used the cards to pay her cell-phone and cable bills.

On her long list of expenses, only a $27 book on how to use Power Point was for work.

Documents show the department suspended the woman in August 2010. During a meeting that month, she admitted she had "screwed up." She offered to sell her and her husband's vehicles to pay back some of the debt.

Both an internal probe by Aboriginal Affairs and an outside consultant's investigation concluded the manager used government credit cards to make personal purchases.

The auditor's report says she turned to government plastic after she maxed out her own credit cards.

During the investigation, the woman moved to Langley, B.C. It is not clear if she still works for the federal government. One document recommended that she be demoted to a non-management role with no credit-card privileges.

The woman offered to pay back the government in small instalments of $150 and $250 twice a month.

Aboriginal Affairs did not respond to questions.

The department and its minister are embroiled in a controversy over its handling of a housing crisis on the troubled Attawapiskat reserve.