While denying reports that the accounts of the former Public Service Ministry (PSM) were not audited prior to 2014, Auditor General Deodat Sharma on Friday disclosed that the alleged theft of $639 million during the tenure of former minister Jennifer Westford was referred to his office by the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP).
“No, I think this was a matter referred to us from the Office of the President [now MoTP] and the Audit Office and the police worked together on that matter but the conclusion of it I cannot say, because it went to court and its in court,” Sharma said when asked whether his office had picked up any unusual activity at that ministry from 2011 to 2014, the period during which the money was allegedly stolen.
The PSM came under great public scrutiny after Westford and her aide Margaret Cummings were criminally charged with the theft of the money. The charges against them were dismissed last month, leaving behind questions and concerns.
