NEW ORLEANS — Travel expense forms obtained by WWL Louisiana show that NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie joined Mayor LaToya Cantrell on a trip to the United Nations COP28 Climate Action Summit in Dubai last month.
On Jan. 3, Vappie, who was the center of a federal investigation last year regarding payroll fraud, submitted $14,416.50 in tax-payer funded travel expenses, including $8,829 in prepaid hotel taxes and fees as well as $4,290 in premium economy round-trip airfare and $1,297.50 for meals.
Cantrell's expense form, submitted on Dec. 13. totaled $26,230 for the eight-day United Nations event they attended from Nov. 30 to Dec. 7 – with first-class round-trip travel to Dubai (Emirates) by way of Houston (United Airlines) and accommodation at Atlantis the Royal Hotel (totaling $24,976.60) paid for by the event's host, the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The mayor also expensed $1,297.50 for meals based on her per diem, as well as another $84.42 for a luncheon meeting.
The expense forms can be viewed in the readers below:
Vappie has frequently joined Cantrell on out-of-state trips as a member of the mayor's executive protection detail. However, those duties were suspended while he was under the Public Integrity Bureau investigation.
Meanwhile, Cantrell is also under scrutiny after the city attorney and chief administrative officer found she had violated a policy barring first-class flights at public expense. Cantrell was forced to pay back nearly $29,000 to the city for upgraded travel.
The mayor is currently facing charges filed by the state Ethics Board in November regarding those allegations.
That case is still pending.
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