(Trinidad Express) A retired High Court judge—David Harris—will chair the team to investigate the imbroglio involving the Auditor General and the Ministry/Minister of Finance.
The team will also include a former audit director and IT (information technology) specialists from Norway.
Making the announcement was Minister of Finance Colm Imbert at a news conference at the Ministry of Fi¬nance, Port of Spain, on Tuesday, following a special meeting of the Cabinet (held just before the Prime Minister departed for Ghana via London).
Former audit director at the Auditor General’s Depart¬ment David C Benjamin and a “number of
specialists in information technology” whom Imbert did not name, but revealed that they are from “completely impartial consultants” from Norway, will comprise the team. Imbert said IT specialists were necessary because at the core of the issue is a new electronic cheque-clearing system introduced at the Central Bank in February 2024 to replace the manual cheque-clearing system.
The team will be requested to report to the Minister of Finance within two months.
a) What circumstances led to the understatement of revenue in the public accounts for the financial year 2023 and what should be done to avoid a recurrence of same.
b) The efficacy of the new electronic cheque-clearing system introduced by the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago in February 2023.
c) The efforts made by the officials at the Ministry of Finance and its various divisions to correct the understatement of revenue, and to advise the Auditor General of the understatement and provide her with an explanation, clarification and further information on same.
d) What was the response of the Auditor General to the efforts of the public officials described at c) above and what action was taken by the Auditor General in relation to the understatement of revenue in the audit of the public accounts for financial year 2023.
e) What are the facts in relation to the allegations and statements made by the Auditor General in her Report on the Public Accounts of Trinidad and Tobago for the Financial Year 2023, including the addendum and appendices, with specific reference to the understatement of revenue in the public accounts for the financial year 2023.
f) Any other related matters.
g) Findings and recommendations going forward.