A lavish Las Vegas conference brought down seven top leaders of the General Services Administration.

Administrator Martha Johnson resigned after GSA’s inspector general found extravagant spending and unauthorized payments for the Public Buildings Service’s Western Regions Conference in 2010. The building service commissioner, Robert Peck, was fired along with Johnson’s senior counselor, Stephen Leeds. Four PBS regional commissioners were placed on administrative leave.

A GSA spokesman said the agency is reviewing possible disciplinary action against others.

The IG said GSA spent $822,751 on the five-day conference at the M Resort and Casino in Henderson, NV, just outside Las Vegas, that about 300 employees attended. The spending included $136,504 for six advance scouting and planning trips to Vegas by as many as 31 agency employees. The IG said the Public Building Service’s Region 9 commissioner told planners to make the event “over the top.”

Expenses included breakfasts at $44 per person (the allowable per diem for breakfast was $12) and a closing reception and dinner at $95 per person (the per diem was $36). Agency planners spent $75,000 on a “team-building exercise” that involved assembling bicycles for charity. The IG found several contracts were awarded in violation of procurement regulations.

The Washington Post reported entertainment at the conference included a mind reader, who was paid $3,200, and clowns.

When the government’s per diem for lodging was reduced before the conference, GSA promised to pay the resort $41,000 in additional catering charges to make up the difference. Agency executives hosted parties in their suites, incurring $5,600 in catering charges, the IG said. A GSA event planner asked for and received a discount on a $98 purse from the resort’s gift shop.

White House chief of staff Jack Lew said President Obama was outraged by the “excessive spending, questionable dealings with contractors, and disregard for taxpayer dollars and called for all those responsible to be held fully accountable.”

In her resignation letter Johnson acknowledged that “taxpayer dollars were squandered” and said GSA needed a fresh leadership team. Johnson took office just a few months before the conference. There is no evidence that she participated in the planning.

The October 2010 conference took place as the Obama administration was ramping up its campaign against government waste and GSA was urging other agencies to buy smarter through its strategic sourcing blanket purchasing agreements.

The president named Assistant Treasury Secretary Dan Tangherlini as acting GSA administrator. In a letter to staff, Tangherlni said he will cancel all similar internal conferences.

The GSA spokesman said future spending in PBS regions will be supervised by headquarters.