An audit conducted into the financial affairs of the Orealla Village Council has found that almost $40M is unaccounted for.
The audit, which was conducted by the Amerindian Affairs Ministry, found that the village’s Toshao had been almost singlehandedly running the affairs of the Council.
The audit was conducted for the period May 2018 to February 2021.
Region Six Chairman David Armogan on Wednesday said that the report is not encouraging as it revealed several irregularities.
“For example, one of the major things enshrined in the Act of the Toshao and the Amerindian Village Councils is that they must provide good governance, they must have regular meetings so that the community would know what is going on and they must be accountable and have all their financial records kept properly,” Armogan related.
The audit also found that the Cash Book was not updated since January 2020, and it showed major signs of manipulation.
Additionallt, it found that the Council collected $97.1M and spent $57M but only had $290,160 as a balance.
According to the audit, there is no accountability for the presidential grants of $1.5M collected annually. It also revealed that the Council has been writing its own receipts when purchases were made.
“That person should be writing the receipt and giving you for the money that you are paying. What they are doing is not in accordance with accounting principles,” Armogan said.
The audit also found that loans totaling $1,650,260, were issued to family members of the Council.
According to the Regional Chairman, there is no record of repayment or a repayment plan and it appears as though those persons were given grants.
“However, despite the Village Council continue to issue loans, the Toshao nor any of his Councilors could not satisfy the ministry’s team with a loans register, a favorable system to manage loans or a method, to retrieve their outstanding loans, as a result, this also has become a liability under the existing Council,” the report said in part.
