Army Acquisition of Services Through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Abstract
This audit was initiated as a result of an anonymous Hotline allegation that: (1) the Army used the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as a conduit for facilitating procurements, (2) the Jet Propulsion Laboratory justified its activity by adding engineering and overhead costs to these procurements, and (3) a possible conflict of interest related to Jet Propulsion Laboratory contracting existed. The objectives of this audit were to examine allegations of improprieties involving Army interagency acquisitions placed through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to ascertain whether the Army used appropriate acquisition procedures, and to determine whether internal controls for the use of interagency acquisitions were adequate. The Hotline allegation that the Army used the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a conduit for facilitating procurements had merit. The audit disclosed that program officials at three Army commands circumvented established policy and exceeded their authority by not obtaining required approvals from contract officials in placing $10.5 million of interagency acquisitions through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As a result, the Army paid $1.5 million for add-on costs for services chiefly performed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory subcontractors. In addition, Army program officials circumvented public laws and Federal and Defense acquisition regulations that govern the use of interagency acquisitions. -'The Office of the Inspector General, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is reviewing the appropriateness of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory expenditures for engineering, overhead and subcontracts; the adequacy of internal
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 25, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA377197
Entities
Organizations
- Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense