Walwyn rejects gov’t internal audit, writes governor to probe $5M deposit
Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn has formally written to Governor Daniel Pruce to, among other things, ascertain whether the government did its due diligence in assessing potential risks to public funds before depositing five million dollars into the failing Bank of Asia.
The deposit was reportedly made sometime between December 2024 and April 2025 — after the bank’s owners had filed for bankruptcy in January 2025 and their assets were globally frozen due to a legal dispute with a former business partner.
In a two-page letter dated June 23, 2025, Walwyn called for “an immediate and thorough investigation” into the matter, citing concerns over the timing of the transaction and the financial state of the institution at the time the funds were deposited.
The Opposition Leader raised questions about the bank’s regulatory compliance, noting allegations that it had failed to submit audited financial statements for several years. This, he argued, raises serious doubts about whether appropriate checks were carried out before the deposit was made.
“Given the gravity of this matter and the potential implications for public trust and the integrity of financial management within our jurisdiction, we believe it is imperative to ascertain” what assessments were made by the government prior to the transaction, Walwyn wrote.
He urged the Governor to investigate several specific issues, including what due diligence was undertaken before the deposit, the nature of the legal proceedings against the bank’s owners, whether any warnings were issued to government officials about the risks involved, what steps were taken to protect the $5 million, and the rationale for opening a new account amid the bank’s ongoing legal and financial troubles.
Premier shouldn’t be involved in any internal audit
While Premier Wheatley has said that the Internal Audit Department has been tasked with investigating the matter, Walwyn argued that any probe must be conducted independently and not under the direction of the Premier, who also serves as Minister of Finance.
“The Premier, being the Minister of Finance, should not be involved in any audit or investigation into this matter,” he stated. “For the sake of good governance, accountability, and transparency, any investigation should be completely independent.”
Walwyn said the public deserves a “fair and unbiased explanation” of how public funds ended up in a bank already in financial distress and possibly beyond recovery. He has asked the Governor to ensure the findings of any investigation are made public.
The government has maintained that an internal audit is underway and has rejected claims of wrongdoing. Premier Wheatley has insisted that many of the allegations circulating in the media and political sphere are inaccurate or misleading.
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Keep the pressure on Hon.Walwyn. The Premier is covering up something. They need to be exposed.
It seem to me as if the BVI Politicians have not learned from the COI they keep asking for the Governor to investigate and when the Governor investigates and step in they are the very ones that cry wolf!!!
Politicians please make up your mind, do you want to look after things internally yourself or do you want to be governed by others. For the sake of your people and for those of us who are your friends please decide and let us move forward.
What do the bank of Asia, Geneva and Switzerland have in common? In those institutions, it is believed the millions from planes from 150, 20, to 5, to 4 million and more go missing.
But yet they the European Union, UK and others who know the facts about havens for stolen hidden political money points their fingers at and call the territory money laundry and hide away havens. The hpocrisy!
The average person that becomes a politician does not become a protector of his country’s wealth, he becomes a thief, a thief of the government’s purse.
And the unexplained dosapperance of the territory’s money continue to look suspicious, when year after year, nothing infrastructurally is being seen to get accomplished.
All know of and see well the monthly lavish trips and expensive vacations. Could they be making contact with crooks to finalize the hide away of the people’s monies. Yah never know cause they don’t say.
Are you referring to Geneva Switzerland or Geneva Place??
Is Geneva Place an institution??
He will end up just like Andrew any bits ?
the prophet said he will face the same fate like his predecessor head coach
The VIP got to be wishing that Ronnie Skelton was still leader of the opposition LOL. AH LOVE IT!
We the people need to hear the true facts . not some fabricate cover up story. whoever does investigate or audit themselves? that’s a straight forward conflict of interest.
news carrying confusion maker
I want to hear the news so governor hurry up come investigate please and thanks.
The BVI created a cancer by allowing these island people to run for office.
And poor Wiggo can’t even get nominated by his party as a candidate. Myron’s progress must be eating out that wig off yuh head LOL
You are right about that because those two on the government side have things upside down right now.
I’m with MW on this one.
How is it that no one knows or no one can say when this deposit was made.
Everyone of us that puts money into an account or takes it out get a receipt.
Let’s make it simple.
What is the date on the receipt?
And then can we know who authorised the deposit?
Why is it so hard? SECRETS SECRETS SECRETS.
Why does this government always have something to hide?
And the answer is not that I should go to school, go back where I came from, learn to spell, go talk to who is paying me.
Why is everyone not interested in finding where all our money goes, why it goes, who makes these decisions, who gets to benefit?
People of the VI. Once we start asking the right questions we need to make sure we get answers and I don’t meean the sidestepping stupidness we get from our so called leaders in the HOA.
The VI deserves better.
Thank You Hon Walwyn.
Blessings!
Let me say outright, I am not a political ideologue. I am not a card carrying member of any political party.
I read these news articles like everyone else and draw my own conclusions. I am not friends with anyone on either sides of this issue nor break bread with them. In other words, I do not have a vested interest in supporting one side over the other.
Now as I read the accusations and back an forth between the parties, I get the impression that what is going on here is all about politics and a fight for power at its core.
It’s no secret this government going back to the time of the former Premier, now federal inmate in the US, had and continue to have its’ detractors.
There are people who support the government and others who want to see it gone. The country appears divided.
There is no secret also that the Opposition Leader has the ambition to become Premier one day.
Now, as I read these articles relative to this bank and the reported 5M deposit, serious allegations are being made. It’s not clear to me what the intent is here relative to these accusations.
Is it to uncover fraud, ineptitude, poor governance, or criminal activity, or to ruin one’s reputation and character?
Or is it all political theatre to weaken the government and some ministers in anticipation of the next election?
Now there have been some serious accusations made relative to that reported $5M deposit in that failed bank. Those allegations has to be taken seriously and looked into thoroughly.
The Premier and other parties has denied any wrongdoing, and has called for an internal audit.
In my view, an internal audit by definition should be an independent and objective evaluation that should shed light on exactly what occurred here relative to that 5M deposit, one that should be made public.
If the Premier and any other party associated with this matter feels they have been libeled or slandered, they are within their right to seek relief in court.
I personally do not see the need for the governors involvement at this time. In my view, the internal audit is an appropriate initial step and should be conducted and completed.
If after that internal audit is completed there are still lingering questions, a proper referral to the governor may be warranted at that time.
If the governor was to get involved, his office will have to do the same audit.
In closing, I personally like both the Premier and the Opposition Leader. I don’t have problems with either guys.
I further believe that it’s good to have a strong Opposition to keep the government on it’s heals. This Opposition Leader is up to that task, and I do believe he could be a great Premier one day.
However, I disagree with him here relative to getting the governor involved at this stage. I don’t like to see our local leaders running to Government House readily.
The last person who did that was the former Premier who now sits in federal lock up in the US.
Now, there is something called the Clean Hands Doctrine whereby essentially what it means is that you cannot come to court with unclean hands.
We all know the Opposition Leader has been cleared of charges relative to the high school wall, and perhaps he is in a vindicated mood; however, there are people who believe in his innocents and others who do not.
So while he has to do what he has to do as the Opposition Leader, in my view, he should keep that in mind that he goes forward with a divided electorate.
If they give a date for the opening of the account all the evidence ,the paper work, movement of money, bank statements, receipts, investments ( if any ) authorization need to equate , it’ll take time to organize after the event . The liquidator will find out if and when if he’s not saying the other creditors lawyers will be digging away .
Not only should the min. of finance not be involved in the investigation but it seems he should be removed as min. of finance. Wha kinda arsyness is dis that he did not know about the movement of 5million before it moved. What else going on under his nose that he does not know about. Our financial security is in a crisis and this is a national security issues that calls for the involvement of the governor.
The Bank of Asia deposit receipt will be published along with the financials for the non-stop party.
The Premier is looking very suspicious. He needs to come clean with the public that is his boss and employers.
Thank God for Hon. walwyn in the House of Assembly. His presence really makes a big difference and I can trust that there is someone who would be thorough and well researched to defend us.
I hear natalio speaking about the so call internal audit he is recommending, and his mouth even slip by letting it out that they will make recommendations on how to do things in the future, so his speech shows there is a a foregone conclusion that we must make our mind to lose the $5 million USD,listen to sowandie speech it is already concluded, the internal audit is a technique of managing the emotional concern of the BVI tax payers, make them believe something is done and in the vissitude of time they will forget, and allow them to go through the august Monday carnival then Christmas keep them forgetting about bank of Asia, and sowandie may even throw a party and keep the people mind off pressing issues concerning the country, and Marlon ,John cline, Claude and Ronnie hoping for the people to swallow the bait of the indigenous entitlement rip off clique, who believe they are entitled to suck at the treasury finances. The alliance and Myron need to stand their ground for the people of the BVI, what they are doing would have been obtain if it was st Thomas or st croix people would have gone to jail, federal government would a look into that, now sowandie want Myron and Turnbull and Mather and the thousands of BVI concern citizens to go sit down and let he an his minority entitlement clique rip off the country’s finance?
So does he agree with the wall audit and investigation as well?
The wall matter tried and tested. Let’s try and test this 5 million dollars mess and see the outcome. Instead Sl**ande is trying to keep it internal so that nobody knows. If there is nothing to hide then he should welcome a full independent investigation just like the wall.
Myron, have you ever read a report from the internal auditors? NONE of their reports are ever coerced. They report the facts as they find them, trust the process.
From what I am gathering it seems that appropriate question to be determined is why did the government place 5 million dollars into bank of Asia at a time when its owners filed for bankruptcy. I am not sure if an internal audit could adequately answer that question. It would somehow require a deeper investigation to see if there was for example any corrupt intent which would likely go outside of the remit of the internal audit department. Also, it is true that internal
Audits are not made public. The Premier is not being truthful.
Are you f*ing serious? Go back to cave you crawled out from. The real world says different.
No internal audit conducted by an internal person or team has ever turned up anything of relevance. Your punishment for such ignorance is banishing you to reading the Yellow Site every day and nothing else and talking to no one.
This ship has sailed. We are on to a proper investigation. Let’s get it right once and for all, wherever the chips fall.
There they go again, the raceeos are in love with the Yellow site.
Tall boy has turned the tables, from being investigated to calling for investigations. That’s what you call a comeback…
The minister responsible for internal
Audit is the minister of Finance. The subject of the audit is with a matter in the ministry of finance which also involves the minister of finance. The minister of finance called for the audit into a matter that he could be implicated in.
It is the appearance of things! And the minister of finance fully well knows that internal audits are not public documents.
Governor help them want now, we cant do nothing right in the BVI without the UK sad.