ATF 'lost 420m cigarettes' in churning investigations

[cronus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24276957

ATF 'lost 420m cigarettes' in churning investigations

The US agency tasked with stopping illegal tobacco trafficking lost track of 420 million cigarettes purchased in undercover operations, justice department auditors have found.

In addition, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) made $162m (£100m) selling tobacco undercover, it found.

That money was used to fund undercover operations between 2006-11.

The findings were revealed in an audit of the ATF's use of undercover profits.

In the report released on Wednesday, the justice department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) said it had found "a serious lack of oversight" of "churning investigations".

In those, the ATF uses proceeds from undercover operations to offset expenses incurred in the same operations, rather than depositing the funds in the US treasury.

The ATF received that churning authority in 2004.

ATF managers often disregarded policies on the churning investigations and failed to account properly for assets purchased during undercover operations, Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote in the audit.

In one unauthorised churning investigation, agents sold approximately $15m worth of cigarettes over 18 months. A confidential informant in the case was allowed to keep more than $4.9m "to cover his business expenses", according to the audit.

(continued)

[JimC]

Going so deep undercover that they've actually become one of the major players in the black tobacco economy...

Scrumple, I want to say right here that I appreciate your quirky news items - to me, they add a lot of interest to the forum...

Mind you, maybe sometime you could add some really cheerful ones, like boy scouts rescuing fluffy kittens from trees...

[cronus]

Going so deep undercover that they've actually become one of the major players in the black tobacco economy...

Scrumple, I want to say right here that I appreciate your quirky news items - to me, they add a lot of interest to the forum...

Mind you, maybe sometime you could add some really cheerful ones, like boy scouts rescuing fluffy kittens from trees...

I'll see what I can do.

[Tyrannical]

Going so deep undercover that they've actually become one of the major players in the black tobacco economy...

Scrumple, I want to say right here that I appreciate your quirky news items - to me, they add a lot of interest to the forum...

Mind you, maybe sometime you could add some really cheerful ones, like boy scouts rescuing fluffy kittens from trees...

If you weren't so biased against the Daily Mail.........

Cheeky red squirrels


Parrot that swears in a Welsh accent.


Hey, it's art.

[Warren Dew]

Going so deep undercover that they've actually become one of the major players in the black tobacco economy...

Scrumple, I want to say right here that I appreciate your quirky news items - to me, they add a lot of interest to the forum...

Agreed.

Mind you, maybe sometime you could add some really cheerful ones, like boy scouts rescuing fluffy kittens from trees...

I can see the article now: "boy scout rescues fluffy kitten from tree ... kitten transferred to animal shelter and gassed."

[JimC]

Going so deep undercover that they've actually become one of the major players in the black tobacco economy...

Scrumple, I want to say right here that I appreciate your quirky news items - to me, they add a lot of interest to the forum...

Agreed.

Mind you, maybe sometime you could add some really cheerful ones, like boy scouts rescuing fluffy kittens from trees...

I can see the article now: "boy scout rescues fluffy kitten from tree ... kitten transferred to animal shelter and gassed."

That would have Scrumple's name all over it...

[rainbow]

Going so deep undercover that they've actually become one of the major players in the black tobacco economy...

Scrumple, I want to say right here that I appreciate your quirky news items - to me, they add a lot of interest to the forum...

Mind you, maybe sometime you could add some really cheerful ones, like boy scouts rescuing fluffy kittens from trees...

What isn't cheerful about some government employees showing some enterprise?

I think this sort of "out of the box" thinking should be encouraged.

Well done to them, I say!