When the government's main printing agency booked $100 million in unexpected profit it went on a spending spree: large bonuses to top managers, trips to Paris and Las Vegas, and an official photo of the boss that cost $10,000.
The bonuses, some nearly as high as $13,000, and travel are raising questions among congressional investigators and Government Printing Office officials about whether the agency is misusing its newfound wealth and whether it received the proper authority for some of the larger compensation payments from the Office of Budget and Management.
Additionally, investigators are looking into whether Public Printer Robert C. Tapella paid close to $10,000 for photographs of himself for his office and during his swearing-in ceremony in November.
The spending comes as GPO recorded record profits of about $100 million over the past 16 months by selling blank passports produced by its printing and binding services to the State Department at more than twice the cost. The investigation also has raised security concerns about the use of overseas companies for components and assembly of the computerized electronic passports.
GPO spokesman Gary Somerset said the process for "goal-based performance" bonuses began five years ago and enables employees "to earn bonuses based on performance of the agency as a whole" as well as individual job performance.