Police called in over millions in payments to Parika supplier for phantom goods

– no evidence of Tender Board approval or goods received, no charges laid

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard on Monday that the Police had been summoned to the Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) regional administration, over payments that were made to a supplier despite no evidence of the goods being received or even Tender Board approval.
Back in 2016, the Audit Office of Guyana had found that a $2.4 million cheque from the Region Eight administration was cashed by a Parika supplier. But when the Auditor General checked, there was no evidence of a cheque number, the Regional Tender Board’s approval or even evidence of the items being delivered.
It had been recommended at the time that the matter be referred to the Guyana Police Force. Accountant General Jennifer Chapman explained to the PAC that the Police were indeed called in. However, despite what Chapman described as a total breach of the law, no one was ultimately charged.
“This particular matter, it was a total breach. One would assume based on the investigation of the Auditor General, there was collusion at the time. And this matter was put before the Guyana Police Force as well. But unfortunately, the person was not charged,” she explained.
Emile McGarrell was the Permanent Secretary for the then Ministry of Communities, while the Regional Executive Officer (REO) at the time for Region Eight was Rafael Downes. The PAC heard from McGarrell that officials like Downes, who wasn’t fired from his post until 2017, were kept on the job because their shoes were too big to be filled. McGarrell also cited public service rules and the fact that no one was charged.

“Until we have a matter where a person is brought before a court, the public service rules indicate that whoever the officers involved, they had to still remain in the system. Administratively, we would have tried some way to manage their involvement.”
“But you cannot do anything until a determination is made by the Police. And that never came as it relates to this matter. But it was referred to the Guyana Police Force, on the advice of the Auditor General,” McGarrell said.
However, PAC member Gail Teixeira was incredulous at the claim being put forward by McGarrell, that competent staff were so hard to find. She noted that provisions could have even been made for staff in another region to be transferred on a temporary basis, to fill the void.
In his 2016 report, the Auditor General had highlighted that Cheque ?. 793752 dated July 29, 2016, for $2.432 million was encashed by a supplier residing in Parika. Included in this sum was an amount of $1.934 million in relation to field items purchased.

“However, the payment voucher bore no evidence of Accountant General’s examination, no cheque number, no evidence of the items being entered into the Good Receive Book nor any evidence of Regional Tender Board approval. However, this voucher was passed for payment. In addition, audit checks revealed that the prices quoted per item on the Requisition to Purchase were higher than other suppliers the Regional Administration usually purchased from,” the Audit Report had said.
The Auditor General had also found that there were 60 payments totalling $33.6 million relating to purchases from the same supplier. However, only 10 of these payment vouchers totalling $9.5 million were presented for audit examination.
“At the time of reporting in September 2017, the Audit Office was conducting further investigation into this matter; and c) Payment vouchers ?. 78A1887 and ?. 78A1888 amounting to $187,612 and $497,995 respectively bore no evidence of being examined by the Accountant General Department,” the report said.