Transactions at Accountant General’s Department for probe

…after Finance Minister calls in police

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh has invited the Office of the Auditor General and the police force to investigate certain suspected unauthorized and irregular transactions allegedly executed in the Accountant General’s Department of his ministry.

This was announced in a press statement released last night by Office of the President Press Officer Kwame McCoy.

The statement announced: “Minister Singh stated that he has issued letters to both the Auditor General and the Police Commissioner bringing to their attention instances where certain superannuation benefit payments appeared irregular and designed to avoid standard financial and accounting procedures.” Singh, according to the statement, invited both agencies to “mount an urgent special investigation into the matter and to report promptly the outcome of their investigation.”

The faulty transactions were detected following internal checks that were conducted by senior supervisory staff from the Ministry of Finance, who, according to Singh, conducted “relevant intelligence gathering activities.” The Accountant General’s Department, among other things, checks financial statements of all government ministries, agencies and departments and transmits these to the Office of the Auditor General for auditing.

Following meetings yesterday, the release said, Singh “indicated that he emphasized to the investigating agencies the urgency with which he wished them to advance the investigations.” The agencies, according to the release, were urged to ascertain whether the suspect transactions were in fact irregular, to evaluate the full scale of an irregularity committed, to identify the perpetrators, and to take all appropriate steps to ensure that the full force of the law is brought to bear.

In his letter to Auditor General (ag) Deodat Sharma on Monday, Singh informed him about the irregularities in the Accountant General’s Department and requested that a special investigation be launched into the matter. A copy of the letter was forwarded to this newspaper on the same date.

Singh wrote: “I wish to bring to your attention disclosures of significant financial irregularities recently uncovered in the Accountant General Department, the Ministry of Finance.

“Payments of superannuation benefits have been made to officials for which initial reviews have shown to be highly irregular and designed to avoid standard financial and accounting procedures.”

The Minister of Finance, Singh further wrote, will provide the Auditor General with “all the necessary cooperation and support in your investigation.” A similar letter was sent to Commissioner of Police Henry Greene. It is unclear whether either agency has commenced investigating.

Meanwhile, several efforts made by this newspaper from Monday afternoon to late yesterday afternoon to contact Sharma for a comment on the matter were unsuccessful. Similarly, Singh could not be reached last night for a comment.