Department of Education investigators say that a DOE purchasing agent used his department-issued debit card to buy $55,000 of items—for himself. The Post reports that Cecil Darrell (who is now fired) bought "two handheld metal detectors favored by oddball beach trollers - at a price tag of more than $1,300" as well as a "Bose audio equipment and iPod speakers as well as camcorders, digital cameras and a total of 27 notebook computers between 2004 and 2007." The Daily News says Darrell also took flights to Florida and California with his wife—who is still a DOE employee—and paid to fly relatives from Guyana to NYC. The case is now with the Manhattan DA's office; the DOE tells the News it will be "implementing new procedures to control the use of procurement cards."
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