Kamla: FIU’s unaccounted-for $6.3m ‘biggest joke’ of Auditor General’s report

THE Ministry of Finance spent over $386 million without supporting documentation for the last fiscal year, representing more than a third of the total sum not properly accounted for in the Auditor General's report, according to opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Armed with a copy of the report at a United National Congress (UNC) cottage meeting on the night of May 6, Persad-Bissessar cited several of the Finance Ministry's apparent massive discrepancies, and promised to reveal more of its contents over the coming days, especially concerning expenditure, since the inconsistent revenue figures have taken more focus recently.

Persad-Bissessar highlighted “areas of concern” on page 17 of the report in which the auditor found: “non-compliance with legal requirements, rules and regulations and other directives; weaknesses in systems of internal control; improper maintenance of accounting books and records; and breach of rights under section 116(2) of the Constitution for the Auditor General or the authorised persons to have access to all books, records, returns and other documents relating to the public accounts.”

Persad-Bissessar said there were clear reasons the government would want to hide the report.

“You don’t want us to find that you (Ministry of Finance) spent $386 million and nothing, no evidence where this money has gone.”

The report found the treasury division made 17 payments totalling $27,173,786.13, where cheque numbers were not seen recorded in the payment vouchers and eight instances where cheque numbers were not entered on the schedule of accounts.

“Audit noted the cheque numbers were incorrectly recorded on the payment vouchers and schedule of accounts for 65 payments totalling $227,920,704.96,” the report said, adding: “Fifteen payments totalling $604,661.10 were seen where its related commitments were not entered into the Vote Book.”

Persad-Bissessar also pointed to the government’s apparent $73 million spending on a Fiscal Incentive Programme for farmers highlighted as having accounting discrepancies in the report and welcomed anyone to say they had benefited from it.

“To whom was it paid? By whom was it paid?” she asked.

She cited a further $24.7 million spent on contracting services without supporting documents.

“This is where you have public servants, but they’re not hiring the public servants.” Rather, she accused the government of handpicking party loyalists for contracts.

“If it is so, and it is in the report, that it is fraud, but more than that, it amounts to misconduct in public office – and someone will pay for that.”

Persad-Bissessar also focused on the inclusion of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) (the state anti-money-laundering agency) in the report.

“This is the same institution which is in charge of suspicious transactions. I mean, if you (don’t) laugh, as they say, you’ll cry. They in charge of monitoring suspicious transactions, but they spent $6.3 million and can’t find a piece of paper to prove who, how, what, when, why. As I laugh, I say this has to be the biggest joke.”

She called on Finance Minister Colm Imbert to provide documentation for the $386 million spent by his ministry.

Persad-Bissessar also defended Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass and accused Imbert and Attorney General Reginald Amour of using “the cloak of parliamentary privilege to attack a longstanding, highly-qualified, respected public servant and her staff…in a most vicious manner.”

The TT Postal Service (TTPost) collected $74,581,487.50 on behalf of the Ministry of Works and Transport via the fixed-penalty traffic-ticketing system.

The report wrote, "However, Nil was reflected under the amount collected in the current year in the Return of Arrears of Revenue Statement. Audit was unable to identify and verify which receipts were in respect of the current financial year and which referred to arrears since the details of when revenue became payable was not available."

Kamla Persad-Bissessar described the ticketing system as "terrorism against our drivers" and said it was "never about road safety. It is another tax drive by government, where they use the licensing authority to raise revenue."

The auditor also wrore of the absence of a contract valued at over $34 million at the judiciary.

"Hence expenditure on project Rehabilitation of the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain of $15,728,109.22 and project Rehabilitation of Magistrates' Courts of $6,765,337.60 could not be verified," it wrote.

Persad-Bissessar said she would have preferred not to speak about the judiciary.

"But this is so linked to the whole justice system, with respect to crime and the dispensation of the rule of law and justice," she said.