THE case of missing cash from the Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Workplace Relations has been referred to the police for investigation.

The Ministry of Employment director finance, Praveen Nair, revealed this during the submission on the review of the 2022 Audit Report on General Administration last week.

While he did not reveal the amount that was missing, he highlighted that the matter was also referred to the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) for investigation.

“We found out about this when we changed our internal controls,” Mr Nair said.

“When we found the theft, we reported to our permanent secretary then, and we referred the matter to the Fiji Police Force and FICAC.

“So, Fiji Police Force came in first and they are currently investigating, and we have been following up with them on the progress.”

On the issue of payroll reconciliation, Mr Nair said this was now done every fortnight, signed and uploaded on the Ministry of Finance portal.

“We have also strengthened the control.

“We have an officer from HR also who verifies the reconciliation. This was missing in the past.

“So, as a result, we don’t have any over payment of salary etcetera. This issue was not reported in the other financial year of audit.”