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Abuse of government-issued credit cards is all over the headlines this week. A Canadian bureaucrat made news by charging $230,000 to her state-issued credit card to buy souvenir coins from the Royal Canadian Mint which she then deposited in her personal bank account.

Veronica Topic, 24, later withdrew the money, and purchased laptop computers, palm pilots and other electronics, which she later sold on eBay. But almost daily delivery of packages to the office and her “extravagant” lifestyle finally caught the attention of her superiors.

News National reports that the credit card was properly authorized to an employee in November 2005 but was cancelled when she transferred to another position. Only 4 months later the card was reactivated with a forged signature of the CBSA’s enforcement division manager. Also the limit was hiked from 15 to 30 thousand dollars a month with a fraudulent signature and made up e-mail address.

“While the employee ultimately admitted wrong-doing and expressed remorse for her actions, the writer did not find any evidence to support her claims that she undertook these activities in order to provide financial support to her family. To the contrary, the writer found significant evidence indicating the employee indulged in a lifestyle not in keeping with her personal income,” concluded investigator Janice Paterson

Co-workers said the indicators of Topic’s lavish lifestyle included using the latest hi-tech devices, hockey tickets for the season, jewelry, a penthouse condo unit and a Mercedes Benz.

“Money never seemed to be an issue,” noted one co-worker, who mentioned a penthouse suite and a Mercedes.

Other colleagues stated that she used a personal BlackBerry and laptop, in addition to her desk computer at work.

As a result of the RCMP investigation, the 24-year old woman, is charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000, three counts of forgery, three counts of uttering forged documents and one count of breach of trust.

According to various news sources total value of the purchases of coins and equipment was about $214,000, plus an additional $51,500 that was identified as “declined purchases” against Canada Border Services Agency for a total transaction amount of about $265,500

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