POLICE officers were given advances worth $182,809 in 2022 to work on cases that remain unsolved, the Auditor-General has reported.
The audit also found acquittals totalling $63,009 could not be verified because the records were under police investigation. The 2023 Report on the General Administration Sector tabled in Parliament last week stated the matter relates to the financial year ending July 31, 2022. The audit team followed up during the current review for the year ending July 31, 2023, and found that “the investigation was still in progress”.
“This finding indicated that the responsible officers may not have been vigilant in their work and the lack of supervisory checks to ensure that the internal controls in place were effective,” stated the OAG report.
“As a result, the audit could not ascertain the completeness and accuracy of these payments.”
The Auditor-General recommended that the Force “strengthen supervisory and review functions” and ensure “the internal control mechanism in place is effective to avoid any possibilities of misuse of public funds”. In its response, the Force said investigations were ongoing and the Director CID has agreed for the auditors to view and verify the acquittals related to the Kasa Operation and the CID funds.