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Posted - 15 Mar 2024 : 09:25:20
Massive fraud at govt institutions exposed
The Point: Mar 14, 2024
Article By: Jankey Touray
https://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/headlines/massive-fraud-at-govt-institutions-exposed
Following a resolution passed by the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) in September last year that all government institutions must provide detailed lists of fraudulent cases, the Vice President Muhammed Jallow on Tuesday updated the National Assembly on the matter.
Giving details of fraud case across government institutions and departments, VP Jallow revealed that a case of fraud was reported to the police at the GID (Seaport) involving officers.
According to him, investigations revealed that a visa fee of D1,302,000.00 was received by the cashier, but only D700,000.00 was paid to the Government Account, leaving a balance of D602,000.00 unaccounted for.
A follow-up with the Ministry of Justice revealed that the perpetrators have been taken to court and the case is adjourned for judgement.
At Brikama Health Center, he revealed revenue collectors (Yankuba Keita and others) were collecting revenue but not banking it to the tune of D406,674.00. The case was reported to the police, who are still working on it. An amount of D319,000 has been recovered, leaving a balance of D87,674.00.
“In Brikama Sub-Treasury, one Faisal Bojang committed a fraud case of unaccounted revenue to the tune of D6,592,172.50. The matter is at the courts, but the accused has absconded.”
“A case of fraud was also committed by Baboucarr Bojang at Kerewan Sub-Treasury, amounting to D2,136,327.61. The case was reported to the police for investigation, and it is still under investigation at the time of writing,” VP Jallow further revealed.
“In Janjanbureh Sub-Treasury, the case of unaccounted revenue involving Mr Fakebba Bojang amounts to D521,000.00. The case is still under police investigation.”
“Some staff of the Directorate of National Treasury withdrew public funds from the old TMA without authorisation, amounting to D4,064,363.15. They were subsequently prosecuted.”
VP Jallow also informed deputies that one Mr Mass Cham at the Department of Forestry, Parks and Wildlife was involved in fraud case amounting D839,500.00. “An amount of D510,060.00 was recovered during police investigations, leaving an outstanding balance of D329,440.00. The investigations were completed, but the accused absconded.”
One Baba Gomez of the Gambia Embassy Bissau was involved in an unauthorised withdrawal to the tune of D390,000.32. The case is still being investigated at the level of the police, but the culprit is mentally imbalanced.
A fraud case involving Faisal Bojang at the Gambia Embassy in Paris was reported on the 14th of February 2014. The case amounted to Euros 27,500, and the police completed the investigation and forwarded it to the court for prosecution. However, it cannot proceed as the culprit has also absconded.”
He further revealed that after the 2019 audit of the government financial statements, the Accountant General's Department team analysed unreconciled items by different financial years and the periods leading up to 2019 were closed, so adjustments could not be made to the system. However, the unresolved issues he said would be addressed during the 2021 Financial Statements revision. |
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