Staff convicted in fuel racket at Education Ministry yet to repay

In a scandal under the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, which saw gallons of fuel being stolen from the Education Ministry, the staff that was charged for the offence is yet to repay for the loot.
The Police report was handed over to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday during a meeting to scrutinise the Education Ministry’s fiscal operations for 2017 and 2018. Amid several revelations that were brought to light, Public Works Minister and PAC Member, Juan Edghill called out the “corrupted” activities that were ongoing.

In 2017, six vehicles uplifted fuel while not being registered with the Ministry. This amounted to 4351 litres of diesel at a value of $788,773 from GuyOil’s Regent Street, Georgetown location. This was followed by three vehicles uplifting fuel in 2018.
“On average, in excess of one ‘45 gallons’ drum was uplifted on each occasion. We could not determine the basis on which such quantities of fuel were uplifted, and whether it was in the public’s interest,” the AG’s report had outlined.
An employee of the Education Ministry, who was implicated and charged for theft from the entity, is yet to repay for the stolen goods and efforts are now being made to relocate him. It is understood that an employee facilitated this duplicitous transaction and after the Police completed their investigation, he appeared before the court.
In 2020, he was found guilty of theft and an arrangement was brokered for the repayment of the cost of fuel stolen.

Yet to pay
Information coming from the Education Ministry on Monday suggested that he did not make any payments. In fact, officials are now trying to locate him. The Ministry told the Committee that a follow-up is now being made by providing an update to authorities.

“He didn’t make any payment…We tried to locate him and moving forward, we will have to report it back to the court that he has not done any of the payment. What the order said is that we were supposed to enter into a reasonable arrangement for payment. We’re still to engage him directly. We sent him a letter and no response,” Permanent Secretary Alfred King told the PAC.
PAC Member and Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill inquired if the Ministry followed suit with an internal investigation, given the fact that a serious breach occurred. In response, it was noted that the transport officer and a driver were interviewed. Two persons from GuyOil were also questioned.
This publication understands that GuyOil is informed of the vehicles that are authorised to uplift fuel and reconciliation is a monthly activity. While the Chief Accountant had some spearheading capability in this operation, this person was not investigated.
Edghill questioned, “This is not a small matter. In 2017, on 13 instances, more than 45 gallons of fuel was uplifted and it went to vehicles that didn’t belong to the Ministry. The vehicles did not belong to the Ministry. It’s not one time it happened; 13 times. Where was the breakdown in the system? Was it at the Ministry or at GuyOil? Even if a man at the Ministry illegally signed an authorisation to collect fuel, based on the arrangement between the Ministry and GuyOil, where was the breakdown of the system?”
He also questioned what systems were put in place to avoid such illegal activities in the future.
In another matter, the Auditor General flagged in his report that some $52.8 million was received by eight schools but it could not be determined whether those deposits were intact due to the absence of key documentation, including bank statements. He furthered that the monies were not fully accounted for in 11 schools.
Upon inquiry into the matter by PAC Member Dharamkumar Seeraj, the Permanent Secretary informed that evidence for reconciliation was submitted to the Auditor General, and the rollout of receipts of deposits are accessible. (G12)