An audit conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) has pointed to alleged corruption at the General Services Agency (GSA) under the administration of former Director General Mary T. Broh.
The report is in the possession of the NewDawn investigative team. It uncovered several financial, administrative, and corrupt practices at the GSA during Madam Broh's administration.
The objective of the GAC audit is to obtain reasonable assurance on whether the GSA financial statements for the Fiscal Year 2016/2017-2019/2020 are free from material misstatements and were prepared in compliance with the relevant laws and regulations.
Also, the audit aimed to express an opinion on whether the GSA financial statements for FY 2016/2017 -2019/ 2020 were prepared in all material respects according to the required financial reporting framework.
Lastly, the audit sought to report to the Legislature on the GAC reporting requirements spelled out in Section 4.2 (b) of the GAC Act of 2014.
The report disclosed that the GSA management changed the approved contractor without obtaining 'no objection' from the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC).
It detailed that samples amounting to US$23,342.02 were made for repairs, maintenance, and other office supplies to different vendors instead of the contracted ones.
Regarding the Abi Jaoudi and Azar Corporation agreement's irregularities, the report revealed that the management waived US$53,000.00 to Abi Jaoudi and Azar Corporation for assisting the government during trials at the Civil Law Court and the Supreme Court.
However, the audit report pointed out that no details of the trials were disclosed for which the amount was waived, adding that the amount waived was from the outstanding US$83,000.00 rental.
"We further observed that the terms of the new lease agreement don't seem reasonable with such a prime property rented out an average of US$4,475.00 per year ... for two properties 1.6 lots /0.41 acre," the audit said.
The GAC observed that the property was not appraised before the signing of the new lease agreement in February 2019.
"Also, we uncovered that there were no corresponding contracts for some payment made by the management during the period under audit," the report stated.
According to the report, the revenue generated from the sale or lease of government properties was not deposited in the Liberian government revenue account but into non-authorized accounts.
The report further uncovered the arbitrary change of PPCC-approved contractors to non-approved contractors.
"Placed government properties under lease without doing an appraisal of the properties to determine the actual value and allow the government to receive the fair monetary value for its properties," it explained.
The GAC accused the GSA of paying "vendors" without a contract and paying for goods and services not made to the vendor or its legal representative but to an unauthorized third party.
It indicated that there was no expenditure report on taskforce expenditure of over 30,000.
During the audit, it was established that no control was put in place for granting lease or rental applications for government properties. There was also no evidence of invoices and receipts issued to verify the number of properties rented or leased.
Furthermore, the audit pointed out that the GSA management did not provide a comprehensive listing of inventories of total government properties leased or rented during the period under audit.
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"In the absence of adequate supporting documentation, the completeness, accuracy, and validity of the rental or lease transaction may not be assured."
The report pointed out that "the completeness, existence, and accuracy of rental income may not be assured; therefore, the financial statements may be misstated."
The audits added that the value of unsupported revenue resulted from the non-use of the double-entry accounting system.
Explaining the risk, the report lamented that the non-usage of a double-entry accounting may impair the completeness and accuracy of revenue and expenditure and, subsequently, the financial statements.
This paper has contacted Madam Broh to get her response to the audit. However, phone calls, text messages, and WhatsApp contacts failed as she did not respond to any.
