The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General published an audit this week that found U.S. military personnel misspent $500,000 of military travel funds on entertainment in 2023, including dozens of cases of gambling and casino visits.
The Visa Travel Cards are issued to soldiers for time spent traveling between active duty positions, such as for personnel working abroad. The cards are monitored for potentially fraudulent or inappropriate transactions through the Visa IntelliLink Compliance Management System (VICM).
A recent audit of the VICM system showed that various loopholes, including the spread of casino legalization and the changing names of companies, allowed gambling and nonessential travel related spending to slip through.
In one case, an Air Force serviceman based in Maryland was found to have used a military issued credit card to withdraw $10,000 in cash over a dozen transactions at the local MGM National Harbor, which is around ten miles from the Pentagon.
“Until the Government Travel Charge Card program is compliant with regulations and the DoD implements an effective oversight process, there will be missed opportunities to identify and mitigate misuse, abuse, and potential fraud,” said Inspector General Robert P. Storch in a press release.
“The DoD must take steps to ensure adherence to internal controls to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars.”
The Gambling Expenses
The VCIM system blocked nearly a million suspicious transaction attempts in 2023. However, clearly many still managed to get through, including at least $100,000 in gambling-related charges. That included bets on new or offshore gambling websites and withdrawals from ATMs in casinos.
In the case of the airman from Maryland who gambled $10,000 of military funds, the explanation as to how the casino slipped through the system was simple enough.
The soldier’s 10-month gambling period coincided with MGM National Harbor’s cash machine supplier changing. The VCIM did not update with the name of the new company as one now associated with a casino operator, meaning the soldier could withdraw cash from his travel card and then deposit it into the casino on site.
After the casino ATM transactions were detected by IG investigators, they informed the military. The airman admitted gambling the funds and he was given nonjudicial punishment by his commander.
Outside of that specific case, the IG audit found that missed gambling related expenses increased during public holidays. That included on Super Bowl weekend and Labor Day.
The Recommendations
The report suggested several measures the Pentagon could take to cut down or eliminate misuse of travel card funds. In total, it made 15 recommendations, including increased monitoring of the VCIM databases for new or updated gambling adjacent payment operators, and a potential increase in sensitivity for flagging suspicious transactions on public holidays.
Interestingly, according to this report by military news site Task & Purpose, the VICM system has discouraged misuse of the cards. It referenced a 2015 Department of Defense audit which found that $1 million had been spent gambling from travel card funds that year, as well as $100,000 identified as transactions at strip clubs.
The findings from that report led to the introduction of the VICM system, which will likely be further enhanced going forward. The audit comes after late 2024 criticism of the U.S. military’s expansion of its slot machine offerings on foreign soil bases, which some said are driving high rates of problem gambling among troops.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
