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Nakinskie Robinson reports
By Nakinskie Robinson
The Auditor General's Department has urged the Ministry of Finance to recover nearly $5 million from the Financial Services Commission.
This comes after it conducted a special audit report that was tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The Auditor General conducted an investigation into allegations of excessive expenditure and human resource and procurement malpractices from March 2015 to September 2022.
The report revealed that the FSC made separation payments to an executive director on June 12, 2017, amounting to $11.1 million.
A breakdown of that payment indicated that statutory liabilities owed were not deducted from the over $11 million.
To address the omission, the FSC chairman instructed that the $4.76 million be treated as an ex gratia payment and the FSC would pay Tax Administration of Jamaica the requisite statutory deductions.
The report said the FSC did not demonstrate proper fiduciary responsibility when it accepted that liability.
It was also revealed that the chairman instructed a payment of US$1,000 to the executive director for which there was no evidence that both payments were brought to the attention of the Board.
It further disclosed that there was no evidence of a letter of resignation or where the decision to separate was made by the Board in alignment with the terms of the former director's contract.
The findings indicated that the FSC breached the Procurement Procedures when a consultant, who was contracted by the former executive director, was paid US$28,000 for work from February to September 2015 without any terms of reference.
In relation to procurement issues, the 22-page special audit noted that there were instances where officers were employed or promoted without being interviewed or the positions being advertised.
Meanwhile, the report also found that a loss of more than $163 million was incurred following the hosting of the International Organization of Securities Commissions Conference in 2017.
But board minutes indicated that there were missteps in the management of the contracting and other arrangements relating to the conference, but that in the interest of maintaining Jamaica's reputation, efforts would be made to make the conference a success.
The Auditor General's Department also noted that 71 positions, costing more than $300 million annually, were not on the Ministry's List of Established Posts, but found that there was no evidence of intention to circumvent government policy.
It further stated that, while the FSC generally acted in accordance with government guidelines, several matters were unsettled with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.
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