A FIVE-MONTH delay in reporting a case of suspected fraud to the police has left the management of Nutrition Products Ltd (NPL) with little chance of recovering $14.6 million that went missing between April 1997 and February 1999.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was told yesterday that NPL's internal auditor, Rosemarie Cameron, uncovered the irregularities as early as July, 1999. However, a report was only made to the police on December 7, 1999.
By the time Fraud Squad detectives moved in on the suspect a female employee she had left for England. Colbert Edwards, Deputy Superintendent of police, who worked at the Fraud Squad at the time, told the PAC that when he arrived at the home of the suspect she had already left the island.
"I am aware from speaking to her landlord that she left hastily sometime prior to December, 1999," DSP Edwards said.
Although no longer at Fraud Squad, the DSP is still in charge of the case.
He said the former NPL employee was traced to England and Interpol was asked to locate and apprehend her. Interpol responded in August 2000 stating that she had left England. Her destination was not known but a warrant is out for her arrest.
The financial irregularities were first reported to the Ministry of Education, which has oversight responsibility for the NPL, on November 25, 1999, more than four months after they were first discovered. The Ministry did not contact the Fraud Squad until December, 1999.
Acting PAC Chairman Mike Henry was told the delay in reporting the matter to the police was to give independent auditors time to examine the books.
The case of the missing funds has been a recurring decimal for the Education Ministry, having been previously dealt with by the PAC on a number of occasions. The money represented contributions by schools to the Government-funded school feeding programme.
Meanwhile, there was no indication yesterday that $4.4 million of public funds that had disappeared from six schools had been recovered. The last time the matter came before the PAC one person had been arrested.
Last year, the Government spent $347.6 million to provide lunches for 195,000 students daily. Only $43 million was made by NPL during the period.
