SOCU probe holding up transactional audit into NICIL

Jan 21, 2017 News

–Officer in Charge
It is over 10 months since the Government authorized the launch of a transactional audit into the

NICIL’s Officer in Charge, Horace James

National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). The audit is being conducted by the Auditor General’s Office. However, the process continues to be hampered by a number of constraints.
According to NICIL’s Officer in Charge, Horace James, one of the constraints affecting the smooth flow of the audit is that original documents from the company are tied up in investigations being conducted by the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU). James said he was made aware of this state of affairs after the company wrote to Auditor General Deodat Sharma, requesting an update on the audit.
James said that both SOCU and the AG’s office would require the use of original documents given the seriousness of the investigations. He noted that while the audit at Sharma’s office is being “held back,” he anticipates that it would be finished by mid-year.
The investigations by SOCU and the transactional audit by the AG’s office were as a result of the damning findings that stemmed from a forensic audit into NICIL by Chartered Accountant, Anand Goolsarran.
Goolsarran discovered that in relation to the expenditure on the 2007 Cricket World Cup, NICIL had transferred amounts totaling $650 million to the Local Organizing Committee, but failed in its responsibility of ensuring that there was proper accountability for the amounts transferred.
With regards to the construction of a controversial property at 44 High Street in Georgetown, the forensic auditor found that the contract was awarded in 2007 but at the time of reporting, the building remained substantially incomplete. Goolsarran stated in his report that the building was abandoned, and the structure was expected to be torn down because the floors were not constructed to the required specifications. He said that as the “Project Executing Unit”, NICIL’s role was to ensure that the works were executed according to the agreed specifications and had again failed to discharge its responsibility for this project, resulting in some $350 million of taxpayers’ funds being wasted.
Goolsarran in his report also stated that despite the size and complexity of its operations, NICIL does not have its own procurement rules, which is a key requirement of the Procurement Act. In the circumstances, he said that it would have been more appropriate for NICIL to involve the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) in the assessment of tenders received for the award of contracts. Instead, the assessment of bids was done internally, and would have lacked the level of independence, especially for large projects such as the Marriott Hotel.
Given the aforementioned findings among others, Goolsarran recommended that Government commission a further independent audit to examine in detail, transactions over the last six years under NICIL. He also recommended that the relevant authorities institute criminal/disciplinary actions against all those responsible for other violations, including the failure to properly account for State resources under their control.

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