Social Services staff ‘used food coupons for themselves’

As of Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Auditor General Terrence Bastian.

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

STAFF members at the Department of Social Services participated in a “fraudulent” scheme in which they used food coupons intended for Bahamians on welfare to purchase groceries, according to Auditor General Terrance Bastian.

The audit - covering the period July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015, and tabled in

Parliament yesterday - exposes a litany of internal weaknesses in the Department of Social Services’ (DOSS) accounting department and raises questions about how effectively top officials were providing oversight and management during the period in question.

Regarding the fraudulent scheme that saw several employees purchase groceries using food coupons, an investigation into the matter resulted in the termination of one staff member while two others have been placed on administrative leave.

Some of the pre-printed food coupons used in the scheme were for businesses that no longer exist, such as Stop ‘N Shop Grocers, Mr Bastian said.

By using the coupons for 10 different clients, several employees of the DOSS were able to obtain grocery items on August 30, 2015.

“The store’s name as printed on the coupons had been manually crossed out and replaced with an existing food store’s name,” he said.

“There was no authorising signature on the coupons when they were used by the DOSS staff members. As a result of the supposed acts between the food store personnel and the aforementioned DOSS staff members, these staff members were able to use the unsigned coupons to obtain grocery items.”

In fact, when management of Stop ’N Shop Grocers recognised discrepancies with the coupons, a senior member of the DOSS collected them from an employee of the store, promising to have them signed.

The employee, described as a senior DOSS accounts staff member, had access to the signature-stamping machine of the department’s director and used it to stamp the director’s signature on the coupons.

The employee later delivered the coupons “to the food store’s accounts department for processing.”

“The lack of control over the director’s signature stamping machine could result in inappropriate actions by employees entrusted with carrying out their daily functions,” Mr Bastian noted.

“It can also result in the director bearing the risk and responsibility for fraudulent activities and financial losses to the government.”

He added: “Through apparent collusion, staff members were able to perpetrate a fraudulent act utilising (items) intended for the disenfranchised. This act by these staff members is an indication that one staff member was given too much authority, apparently with minimal or no supervision. This act may also be indicative of a more complex scheme being perpetrated with public funds.”

The department employees used $1,034 worth of food stamps.

Mr Bastian criticised the DOSS’ internal controls, noting that the coupon fraud was not discovered by the department but instead by the vendor.

He also criticised the lack of consistently prepared reconciliations related to vendors’ accounts for redeemed food coupons.

This lack, he said, “could contribute to over/under payment of vendor invoices.”

Additionally, Mr Bastian raised concerns about poor oversight by executive management related to the review of vendor requests and payments.

Despite a requirement that approvals of such requests and payments be completed by the finance officer, in one instance a cheque request for a food store in the amount of $544,200 was “authorised by an accounts officer” without either a signature from the finance officer or executive management.

In fact, $3,682,636 in cheque requests were processed with the director’s signature, despite requirements.

Allowing this to take place “indicates a lack of accountability on the part of executive management,” Mr Bastian said.

Such problems led Mr Bastian to call for duties in the accounts department of the DOSS to be more properly segregated.

“The risks associated with inadequate segregation of accounting functions can escalate leading to erroneous and inappropriate actions if one individual is in charge of handling assets, recording transactions, reconciling, and processing payments.”

The poor segregation of duties led to questionable acts and fraud, he said.

ThisIsOurs 8 years ago

WOW. WOW. WOW.And Melanie a Griffin can get up on a political campaign stage and talk about how people are falsely accusing the PLP of corruption when this stuff is going on in her ministry? These people need to wake up. And she can tell them "if they trust in a God they will eat" while people are stealing food from under their noses????

DDK 8 years ago

Just when one thinks it can't get any worse! Are we a nation of (mostly) villains? I suppose it starts at the top and the example is passed on down!

ThisIsOurs 8 years ago

What's even worse is when she made her statements, she would have been well aware of these fraud charges as someone was already fired. It's also clear that though one person was fired the corruption ring involved numerous people

TigerB 8 years ago

I like Mr. Bastian, a straight shooter... just what we need now!!

Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years ago

Agreed. He is a Bahamian with principles in a very important position doing the best he possibly can with very limited resources made available to him by the corrupt Christie-led PLP government.

Observer 8 years ago

A permanent secretary is ultimately responsible for the orderly day to day operation of a government ministry and any related department of a specific ministry. Let that most senior officer perform his/her duties and equipt them with competent and honest staff. Terminate the incompetent employees across the board and stop the cover-up, regardless of the trash talk from the union bosses.

TalRussell 8 years ago

Comrades what will it take for the policmean's to become involved in so despicable of an act as government workers stealing food right out mouths of people in need of a helping hand up? Are these government workers so out touch with the hungry bellies of the going hungry?

cmiller 8 years ago

Jesus......what next????

themessenger 8 years ago

Birdie, why haven't we heard from you in defense of these poor black people who have literally had the bread stolen from out of their mouths? In this country these days only the thieves prosper, the bigger the thief you are the more you prosper. Don't know whether we can stand anymore of that help and hope stuff your people shoveling.

Sickened 8 years ago

These thieves have now earned their PLP stripes and will be running in the next general election. Congratulations to them on their advancement up the PLP ranks.

realfreethinker 8 years ago

What a time we live in. Never have I seen such corruption and scandal in our country. This crew make Ping look like a saint.

TalRussell 8 years ago

Comrades corruption and abuse moneys and programs at government departments are broad and wide and have been around and well known for decades. But never addressed by this or any previous governing administration. Nor will it be addressed by the next and the next governing administrations.

SP 8 years ago

...................................... This is an age old entrenched phenomena .....................................

Good job Auditor General Terrance Bastian! An obvious questions are WHY weren't such blatant corruption firstly expected and two caught a long time ago?

Expecting Permanent Secretaries "the keepers of corruption" to expose corruption is the biggest joke of the Month.

Should Mr. Bastian take the time to actually "look", he would discover that this behavior was not only just as prevalent, but a great deal more pronounced during FNM Cabinet MP Loretta Butler Turner's failed tenure as Minister of Social Services!

asiseeit 8 years ago

And it should have been made public at that time, we as a people can no longer afford to be ripped off, there is to much at stake! Whoever the government is should be held accountable. The civil service needs a very good scrub down as corruption is entrenched and a cancer.

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