-second period expires
NCN Programme Manager Martin Goolsarran remains off the job amid a probe-now into its fifth month- of financial irregularities at the state broadcaster.
“I am not sure,” was Goolsarran’s brief response yesterday when asked when his suspension would end. An additional eight weeks suspension following an initial eight weeks would have ended last week. Stabroek News could not reach other officials to ascertain the status of the probe yesterday.
Last month, President Donald Ramotar said that a wider investigation into the financial irregularities uncovered at NCN is not a top priority and he was awaiting a full report on the issue from the Board. Many observers had questioned why NCN Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Sattaur was allowed to resign in the middle of a growing scandal.
Ramotar told reporters that Sattaur offered his resignation to him “when you had some of these things in the public and I accepted his resignation.”
The president was unable to say why stronger sanctions were not imposed upon Goolsarran. Goolsarran was initially suspended for eight weeks for his part in allegedly attempting to cover up financial irregularities by pressuring staff to prepare backdated invoices, among other things. He was asked to remain on leave for an additional eight weeks as the probe continued.
Ramotar had said that the Board is still looking at the issue and all questions should be directed to them as opposed to him. “I am not myself the sole arbitrator in this. They have a Board at NCN.
A lot of your issues should have been directed to the Board but I think they probably needed more time to investigate. I haven’t had the chance to go in depth on that. I have been distracted with many other things,” he had said. In the wake of the NCN board launching an investigation back in June into suspected financial irregularities at the network, the opposition political parties, APNU and AFC, called for police to probe the state-controlled entity.
APNU MP Dr Rupert Roopnaraine had said that the coalition will be approaching the Auditor General regarding the breaches uncovered by an accounting firm during a probe of NCN and said that they also believe that the police should be called in to investigate. It is unclear if there has since been one.
Acting Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell subsequently told this newspaper that he has not received a request to have an investigation done.
A report done by Parmesar Chartered Accoun-tants uncovered several breaches at NCN. The report said that Goolsarran, in the presence of Sattaur, in June, requested that the finance manager prepare an invoice to be dated January 2012 to cover production costs for the GT&T Jingle and Song competition for the period November 2011 to January 2012. The amount of the invoice was for $3.6 million but the employee refused to prepare the invoice “as no Job Order was given to her for these activities.” The employee told the investigators that Sattaur and Goolsarran made “a few requests” to her to prepare the invoice. After the finance manager refused, the report said, Sattaur and Goolsarran instructed another employee to prepare a Job Order for the GT&T competition production services and forward it to the Finance Department for the preparation of an invoice. This employee also refused to carry out the instruction.
The report also said that Goolsarran admitted that he received on two occasions, amounts totalling $3,930,000 in December 2011 from GT&T for production services. “These amounts were deposited in his personal bank account. He claimed that the $3,930,000 was paid to HJTV on two occasions for their services,” the report said. Among other things, the report said that a number of functions of other staff/ departments were usurped by Sattaur and Goolsarran.
It said that that the two officers entered into arrangements with GT&T for the Jingle and Song Competition without a written agreement and further, this event was not referred to the ‘Rates and Special Events Committee,’ which has responsibility for such events. The two officials also executed a subcontract with HJTV without a written agreement.
