As the Auditor General’s office continues to peruse the finances of the Region One administration, authorities there are attempting to determine the whereabouts of a Sub-Treasury staffer who is thought to have left the country.
Regional Chairman Fermin Singh told Stabroek News yesterday that an investigation is currently ongoing at the Regional Democratic Office (RDC) at Mabaruma into the alleged fraud but he could not pronounce on the findings so far. He said that auditors are in the region perusing the public accounts records.
Stabroek News understands that a staff member who worked within the Sub-Treasury unit (a sub office of the Finance Ministry) could not be located and she is thought to have left the country for neighbouring Venezuela. A source in the region noted yesterday that the unaccounted for monies had been removed from the regional office since early this year.
To date, in excess of $10M in cheques and an undisclosed sum of cash, have been discovered missing as the current accounts of the region are being perused by the Audit Office.
Sources in the region noted on Thursday that most of the sums missing are owed to business persons at Mabaruma who are contracted by the region to supply goods and services.
In March of this year, two officers from the Matarkai sub-region Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) were summoned by the regional administration of Region One (Barima/Waini) over an investigation into allegations that a former official was advanced some $4.5 million off the books. The former official was benefiting from contracts for Region One works.
Stabroek News was told that in some cases no contracts were drawn up and it was only after the completion of the work that documents for payments would be drawn up. There was no tender process in the awarding of contracts, sources said. It is believed that the former official was asked to step down from his position because persons had started to complain about the fact that the company he was associated with was being awarded so many contracts.
It is unclear if this matter is still being investigated by the region.
