Investigation: Military Meals, Ready-To-Eat Sold on eBay
(13-FEB-06, GAO-06-410R).
As a result of widespread congressional and public interest in
the federal response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we conducted
a limited investigation into allegations that military Meal,
Ready-To-Eat (MRE) rations intended for use in the hurricane
relief efforts were instead sold to the public on the Internet
auction site eBay. We focused our efforts on confirming whether
selected MREs being offered for sale on eBay were military issue
and, if so, interviewing the sellers to determine how they
obtained the MREs.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-06-410R
ACCNO: A46738
TITLE: Investigation: Military Meals, Ready-To-Eat Sold on eBay
DATE: 02/13/2006
SUBJECT: Disaster relief aid
Fraud
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Rita
Hurricanes
Internet
Program abuses
Sales
Larceny
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GAO-06-410R
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February 13, 2006
The Honorable Susan M. Collins
Chairman
The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
United States Senate
The Honorable Tom Davis
Chairman
The Honorable Henry A. Waxman
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Government Reform
House of Representatives
Subject: Investigation: Military Meals, Ready-To-Eat Sold on eBay
As a result of widespread congressional and public interest in the federal
response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we conducted a limited
investigation into allegations that military Meal, Ready-To-Eat (MRE)
rations intended for use in the hurricane relief efforts were instead sold
to the public on the Internet auction site eBay. We focused our efforts on
confirming whether selected MREs being offered for sale on eBay were
military issue and, if so, interviewing the sellers to determine how they
obtained the MREs.
In summary, after investigating 1 day of MRE sales on eBay, we found that
8 of 12 eBay sellers we investigated were selling MREs over the Internet.
In addition, there is evidence that at least some of these MREs were
diverted from hurricane relief efforts. Specifically, 2 of the MRE
sellers, who were victims of Hurricane Katrina, accumulated cases of MREs
during the relief efforts; however, rather than consume all of the MREs,
they sold some of them on eBay. In addition, a member of the Georgia
National Guard who was mobilized for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts may
have stolen and sold MREs intended to feed other mobilized servicemembers.
Because this National Guard member refused to provide information that
would have corroborated his claim regarding how he obtained the MREs, we
concluded that it is possible, and perhaps likely, that he obtained the
MREs through unauthorized or improper means, such as theft. Although we
cannot conclusively link the remaining five MRE sales to the hurricane
relief efforts, our investigation revealed additional instances where
sellers may have improperly obtained MREs and sold them to the public for
private gain.
Scope and Methodology
To perform our work, we conducted a limited, or "snapshot," investigation
by focusing on the sale of MREs on eBay on October 18, 2005. We chose that
day because relief efforts, which included distributions of MREs, were
under way in all the states affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We
investigated a nonrepresentative selection of eBay members selling MREs on
that day-the 12 claiming to offer more than four cases of military MREs
for sale. Using limited information provided by eBay, we were able to
positively identify 9 of these 12 sellers. By examining information from
the MRE cases and interviewing three manufacturers of military MREs, we
confirmed that 8 of these 9 sellers were in fact offering military MREs
for sale. To determine whether the sellers had any connection to hurricane
relief efforts, we reviewed documents from eBay; asked the sellers to
explain how they obtained the MREs; and, if possible, conducted follow-up
interviews with sources identified by the sellers. Four of the 8 sellers
would not provide us with information about their sources; in these cases,
we could not corroborate the stories they gave us about how they came to
be in possession of the military MREs. We conducted our work from
September 2005 through January 2006 under the statutory authority given to
the Comptroller General of the United States and in accordance with
quality standards for investigations as set forth by the President's
Council on Integrity and Efficiency.
Background
Military MREs are designed to sustain an individual engaged in strenuous
activity, such as military training or actual military operations, when
normal food service facilities are not available. In general, military
MREs contain a full meal packed in a flexible bag; are boxed in cases of
12; and labeled with the National Stock Number (8970-00-149-1094),
government contract number, and other markings. Within DOD, the Defense
Logistics Agency's (DLA) Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP) is
responsible for the acquisition and disbursement of operational
rations-including military MREs. Neither DSCP nor any of the three
manufacturers we interviewed will sell military MREs to civilians;
however, DSCP resells MREs to other government entities. On average, DSCP
pays about $52.57 per case of MREs.
As a result of unauthorized sales to civilians, DOD began requiring that
"U.S. Government Property, Commercial Resale is Unlawful," be printed on
each case of MREs (see fig. 1).1 Furthermore, although no statutes or
regulations specifically prohibit the sale of military MREs, DSCP's
customer eligibility policy states that DOD regulations permit the sale of
MREs to a limited number of organizations, including, among others, U.S.
military organizations and federally funded activities.2 Consequently,
servicemembers, federal civilian personnel, and contractors selling stolen
MREs could face criminal charges related to theft of military property.3
1 Civilian MREs may be sold to the general public and are not labeled with
this information.
2 See http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/rations/index.htl.
3 For laws applicable to military personnel, see U.C.M.J. Art. 108 (sale,
loss, damage, destruction, or wrongful disposition of military property);
Art. 121 (larceny and wrongful appropriation); and Art. 134 (stolen
property: knowingly receiving, buying, or concealing). For laws applicable
to civilian personnel and contractors, see 18 U.S.C. S: 641 (taking
public money, property, or records).
Figure 1: Military MRE Labeling
Source: GAO.
In 2002, after discovering that military MREs were being sold to the
public on eBay, DSCP sent an e-mail to the sellers requesting that they
voluntarily terminate these sales because military MREs are procured by
DLA with taxpayer dollars and owned by the government until consumed by
authorized personnel or disposed of. The e-mail also advised the sellers
that military MREs are never considered surplus and that resale of MREs is
strictly prohibited. Sales dropped off dramatically for a short time after
this e-mail; however, military MRE sales have since resumed. Since the
2002 letter, DSCP has made two other unsuccessful attempts via e-mail to
deter sales of military MREs.
Details of Investigation
On October 18, 2005, eight eBay members that we investigated sold military
MREs over the Internet. Table 1 highlights the information we obtained
from eBay records and the eight sellers. During the course of our
investigation, we determined that two of the eight were disaster victims
and could have received the MREs through legitimate means. Of the other
six, four could not provide information to corroborate their claims
regarding how they obtained MREs, one provided information that was
inconsistent with what we subsequently learned, and the other admitted to
taking MREs from his base. Consequently, as indicated in table 1, we
referred these six cases to DOD's Inspector General (IG) for further
investigation after concluding that it is possible, and perhaps likely,
that the sellers either indirectly or directly obtained the MREs through
theft or some other improper or unauthorized means and profited from their
sale. More detailed information on each of the cases follows the table.
Table 1: Military MRE Sales on eBay on October 18, 2005
claim to
s to corroboraf. Seller sa
e of the Hurriit, and not
ise r, who stat
because they
Case 8: Seller, a former resident of Louisiana, is a businessman in
California who resides approximately 37 miles from the National Training
Center at Fort Irwin, which specializes in desert training. Seller stated
that over the past 5 years he has sold about 40 cases of MREs for
approximately $34 per case. He said that he used to obtain MREs from
military personnel, but that he discontinued that practice on the advice
of base authorities. Seller said he now purchases the MREs from local
scouting and camping groups that receive MRE donations from the military.
We asked Seller to provide contact information for these sources, but he
said that he was unable to do so. We verified that the California
Department of General Services (CDGS) is a state agency that receives
surplus MREs from the military and that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA)
are authorized to requisition MREs from them. However, the Manager and
Senio
Consequently, if military MREs are sold to
(192195)
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