The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Total of 133 mn under Fraud and Corruption in RAA Annual Audit Report
The Royal Audit Authority (RAA) in its Annual Report of 2020-2021 said it found Nu 123.16 mn in malpractices and abuse by the STCBL.
Of the total 133.066 mn under the fraud and corruption heading the bulk of it was the STCBL case above coming to 91.84 percent.
The RAA says cases related to malpractices and abuses were fraudulent acts committed through unlawful means and the abuse of authorities by officials.
In one case STCBL had made sales of vehicles on credit amounting to Nu 101.762 million without approval from the CEO in contravention to the Credit Management Manual.
The RAA questioned the legality of the sales executed and credit extended without due process of assessing the credit worthiness of the clients as there were instances of defaults in repayment.
There was also a case of sanctioning credit for the purchase of of vehicles amounting to Nu 20.129 mn by the STCBL without approval from the CEO.
The RAA found that down payment was not collected and full credit was given without any collateral.
The bank guarantee was also not renewed and no legal action was initiated for default in payment of installments by the client even after the lapse of 26 months.
Salary increments of Nu 165,000 was paid to two employees of the STCBL in contravention of the company’s service rules and eligibility criteria of the vacancy announcement.
The RAA said it could not rule out the possibility of favoritism extended to the employees.
Apart from the above, under the heading of misappropriation of cash the RAA said that the Accountant of the Dungkhag administration in Gelephu has misappropriated cash of Nu 6.46 mn from the LC accounts of the Dungkhag and Gewog. The accounts of both the Gewogs were operated single handedly and the absence of proper checks and controls provided opportunity for the perpetration of fraud.
The accountant of the Royal Bhutan Helicopter Services misused a sum of Nu 1.161 mn as the cash collected from debtors was not deposited into the company’s account.
The sales executive of the regional office of STCBL had misused sales revenue amounting to Nu 1.111 mn from the total collection made from clients.
Under payment for works and goods not delivered where RAA suspects collusion and granting of undue favors, the Dzongkhag administration of Dagana made excess payment due to less execution of work amounting to Nu 1.517 mn in the construction of municipal cum town hall at Daga town.
The gewog administration of Shabha also made payment amounting to Nu 268,000 for works not executed at site in the renovation of an irrigation channel at Zhengo Thangyul.
Under malpractices and abuse the gewog administration of Bjabcho had made payments of Nu 39,000 against petty purchases where invoice numbers did not match with the details reflected in the disbursement voucher raising questions on the authenticity of the payment.
