State audit exercise: Ram, Goolsarran present “clear” conflict of interest

An accredited accountant is urging the David Granger-led administration to engage one or more international accounting firms to conduct the forensic audits it is undertaking at several state agencies, arguing that some of the local firms identified present a clear case of conflict of interest and could destroy the credibility of the work they are being contracted to do.

The accountant, who asked not be named, is also contending that a forensic audit is usually underpinned by legislative provisions, which are non-existent at the moment, and also called for greater transparency in the awarding of the contracts, citing that no tender was advertised for the auditing services but firms were just handpicked for the job.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan, speaking to media operatives on Monday at the Parliament Building, related that his Ministry has contracted private independent firms such as Ram and McRae, Hinds and Associates, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran, among others, to begin the audits into the operations and transactions of 30 plus agencies.

Both Christopher Ram and Goolsarran were staunch critics of the previous administration and had publicly commented before on the financial statuses of a number of the agencies being audited.

According to Minister Jordan, in an effort to ensure transparency and accountability, the audits are being done by a wide field of persons, and not confined to one firm or individual.

The Finance Ministry had expected to commence financial audits of at least four agencies on Monday, three of which are the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Guyana Gold Board and National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited.

While Minister Jordan could not say whether audits had indeed begun in all of the mentioned agencies, he indicated that Goolsarran, who is tasked with the audits for those agencies, had iterated to him his intentions of beginning as soon as Monday and was positive that those had gone through.

The audit will target those agencies which, under the previous administration, were allowed to remain as offline accounts and did not follow the correct procedure of having their revenues placed in the Consolidated Fund, Jordan stated.

However, in an invited comment to this publication, the accountant said that it is not the forensic accountants who determine fraud but instead the court. This means that it is necessary that there already exists a legislative framework to interpret the findings of the auditor and then later aid in the application of the law; otherwise a forensic audit will not have the intended consequences.

Public critics

To this end the accountant said both Goolsarran and Ram are public critics of the past People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration and supporters of the current A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government. The accountant noted that Goolsarran also worked under the People’s National Congress administration as the Auditor General.

“Given their ties to this administration and obvious animosity towards the PPP/C, this is a clear case of lack of independence and conflict of interest. Goolsarran and Ram, who are members of the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), should be reminded of that body’s code of ethics which mandate Integrity, Objectivity, Professional Competence and Due Care, Confidentiality and Professional Behaviour. Both gentlemen should therefore do the honourable thing and distance themselves from this engagement,” the accountant urged.