The Local Government Commission (LGC) has dispatched an auditor to the Municipality of Corriverton to investigate a series of complaints against Treasurer Ronita Griffith.
Deputy Chairman of the LGC, Andrew Garnett, told Stabroek News yesterday that following receipt of the complaint from the Town Council the audit manager of the LGC was dispatched to investigate and the Treasurer invited to respond to the allegations.
“The auditor was there since yesterday [Wednesday]. This is a process. You can’t send a senior officer home on charges alone. You need proof of wrongdoing,” he reminded.
Griffith has been asked to appear before the Commission today to respond to allegations including that she failed to account for a $3.2 million expenditure during the fiscal year of 2017/2018 and that her actions led to the loss of some $3.6 million in rates and taxes from Black Bush Rice Milling Company for the period 2007 – 2016.
In a public statement Mayor Winston Roberts on Wednesday stated that the Town Council had decided to send Griffith on administrative leave pending an investigation into alleged “gross incompetence, misleading the council and failure to accurately account for an expenditure.”
“As a direct result of the municipal treasurer actions, the council spent money that it never had in 2017/2018 and now finds itself in a deficit of $3.2 million for the year 2019. This will adversely affect the execution of projects and the delivery of services by the council,” the statement explains. Roberts goes on to state that the irregularities were discovered in February after an examination of the council’s record. He stressed then when approached for an explanation the Treasurer gave several including that the sum of $3.2 million was utilised to purchase a skid steer in the year 2016.
“However, the records of the council that were prepared by the treasurer show no such expenditure in the year 2016,”the statement added.
