Governor forwards CSC and EZ audit reports to police, DPP and AG
Following the release of two damning audit reports on contracts the government issued to consultant Claude Skelton Cline and EZ Shipping, the Office of the Governor has sanctioned the assistance of legal and law enforcement agencies locally to review and take action, as may be necessary.
Governor John Rankin made that announcement in a press conference Friday afternoon while noting that both of these audits show “failures in good governance and improper use of public funds”.
“In terms of next-steps, I have forwarded the reports on the contracts with Claude Skelton Cline to the Attorney General’s Office for the Attorney General to assess whether the government should pursue recovery of funds spent on these contracts and I’ve also asked the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the police to assess if any offences were committed,” Rankin stated.
“I have similarly forwarded the EZ Shipping report to the Attorney General’s Office for assessment of whether the government should pursue recovery of any amounts paid to EZ Shipping and I’ve asked the DPP and the police to assess if any offences were committed with respect to the engagement of the marine platforms,” he added.
The Governor further noted that the most important thing is that lessons are learnt from these audit reports and that public funds are not misused going forward.
Meanwhile, the report issued by Auditor General Sonia Webster showed that Skelton Cline’s three contracts with the government from 2019 to 2021 — which netted in excess of $365,000 all together — brought nothing of value to the government.
“The audit confirmation exercises performed indicate that much of the work reported or claimed by the consultant (Skelton Cline) was undertaken by persons and programmes independent of the consultancy. In a number of cases, his association with the programmes was either fleeting or non-existent,” Webster noted in her report.
As for the EZ Shipping contract, Webster said her findings showed that the company received payments even when it provided no services. According to the report, the payments made to EZ Shipping covered two months when the barges were not used.
The audit concluded that incorrect information was provided to the National Security Council (NSC) and Cabinet to facilitate approval of the contracts and support unearned payments of more than $700,000.
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has effectively expressed his agreement of the findings in the Skelton Cline audit but rejected a number of the findings regarding the EZ Shipping audit report.
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Well looks like EZ shipping will be interviewed after all.
It would be conflict of interest, probably friends or family within the DPP. Prosecution for this should be outsourced.
That is the kind of action we were expecting and demanding. We want out tax payers money returned. We will house him at bolo but we not feeding he can have his pizza delivered. Cor that type of crime five years should be enough to rehabilitate. Wow I almost forgot can her highness Auditor General do the country a favor and look into the very first contract. But not now just before he is about to be released lets check on him again. Now you might say u am to harsh u will tell you why because he was honestly speaking. He said he was a private citizen misappropiating tax payers money. I almost feel sorry for wif but she was an accessory before and after the facts. Can we look into any role she might gave played in it. They are church folks when Achan went the whole family went with him. Oh that we can have those times again.
Don’t do it. Audit the DPP and AG offices first.
This development highlights the fundamental misunderstanding of how the auditor general system works by our elected reps. It has only been put forward to try to hide from what has been uncovered. Our elected reps look extra shifty and extra out of their depth.
What happened to the billions of government revenue paid in since the 1980s? How come our infrastructure and public education is so poor?
I think we might get some clues!!
If you thought the reactions of the standing government to these audits and reports were revealing, get ready for how they behave now
Sheriff is tired of playing games with the lawless town LOL. I like it!!!
One side audit report fix by Rankin and the uk
The DPP lacks legal ability and judgment.
She needs to go ASAP and we need a competent prosecutor.
There is no provision is section 59 of the Constitution, for the Governor to send any criminal matter to the DPP.
Under section 59(2) of the Constitution, power is conferred on the DPP, to institute criminal proceedings in the High Court.
The DPP has no power to arrest and charge the citizens, therefore, the dpp cannot instruct the police to charge the citizens for a crime.
At this stage, the matter is for a criminal investigation by the police only:
That matter has nothing to do with the DPP.
All these cases from the coi findings the governor is setting up the dpp for failure
This is right. Of course there’s nothing to stop anyone sending reports or any other documents or information to the AG air the DPP, but it is not for either of them to act without the police first investigating whether a crime may have been committed. In any event, a contract for services whether performed or not is more likely to be a matter for the civil courts not criminal. Typical overreach by Governor.
Virgin Island people wake up this Governor is painting the virgin island wrong why all of a sudden all these stuff coming out the samething hapen to turk and caicos
More to the point, this entire subject demonstrates that the BVI is incapable of governing itself as the governmental ministers have no idea whatsoever what governing requires. They seem to be of the opinion excuses can be made for everything they do regardless of how dishonestly they perform. The comments from a number of them on the recent audits says it all, it’s not balanced, it’s one sided, they clearly don’t have a clue what an audit it. An audit is a transactional exercise that follows the audit trail. It records transactions that take place, not why they take place, it logs transactions that are verifiable through the written word as against excuses why something is not what it states it is. The next stage of the exercise is prosecution where the excuses will be examined.
What a well organized plot disguised as good governance. Time will tell.
Thanks for enlighten those of us who will get a clearer understanding of how it really is , and all the lame excuses by( sideline watcher/ correct and vi ) which is trademark of that WIGO , the propaganda expert , who is blogging under different names to create drama by using racism as a front , could not hide it under the rug , cmso he singing like a canary , just like Mr honestly speaking tried, but failed . Wigo hasn’t gotten the message yet .but his time will come
You mean the law is looking over what happened (looking over what the guys that broke the law did).
Well, I guess you could call that one sided…if you steal stuff all the time!
Cline gonna be tap dancing and crying the religion card. “The Lawd made me do it”
Guilty AF
The audit on the Government grants program makes this look like cheating at dominoes. Ministers giving grants to their own businesses. Official’s children getting huge grants for education they likely didnt follow. 10 members of a PS’s family getting close to $200,000 for no clear reason.
Welcome to the BVI.
Is this the same WIGO who’s son received $104,000 in governments grants in an 18 month period?
Rankin is being pacified by Jaspert. Jaspert still in his feelings over Claude. Y’all need to stop, this is coming down to blatant racism a white man cannot drink his own medicine.
the pastors are the new masters..they support thy devil wuk.remember dETROIT..PASTORS AT STRIP CLUBS,,REALLY claude