Financial Liability for Property Loss

Civilian employees who have custody over government funds — “accountable officials” — can be held personally liable for the physical loss or deficiency of public money, vouchers, checks, securities, and records entrusted to their care. An accountable official is any government officer or employee who by reason of his employment is responsible for or has custody of government funds. He or she is liable for a loss the moment it occurs, and the loss of money automatically raises a rebuttable presumption that he or she was negligent in caring for it.

We represent employees that are the subject of such financial liability investigations and recoupment actions. We work diligently to challenge these recoupment actions and build a record upon which we can defend our clients against any subsequent disciplinary actions the Agency may propose based on these alleged losses.