The Chief Executive of Bulk Energy Storage and Transportation Limited (BEST), Dr Edwin Provencal, has revealed that a forensic audit he initiated since his appointment in August 2019 saved Ghana $28 million.
Dr. Provencal explained that, the audit was prompted by claims from Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) that BOST owed them $37 million. However, the forensic audit reduced the debt to $9 million.
In an interview on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Tuesday, August 20, he noted that a Cabinet memo in 2016 had approved the payment of $37 million to the BDCs, along with other debts, including GH₵ 416 million owed to local banks and $624 million to suppliers.
“I inherited it to pay but what I decided was to verify what was going on so I wrote to EOCO, National Security to come and do the forensic audit. And the forensic audit was done internally but the $37 million was done by one of the so-called big falls… By the time the forensic audit was done, the $37 million owed had shrunk to $9 million.
“Now, all these BDCs who said we owed them signed that it wasn’t the $ 37 million anymore by $9 million,” he stressed.
While Dr. Provencal did not attribute the inflated figure to criminal intent, he suggested that errors, such as adding extra zeros, could occur.
“In the absence of this forensic audit, the $ 37 million would have been paid. We’ve saved this country $ 28 million and as of today, all the BDCs have been paid the $ 9 million,” he stated.
Dr. Provencal also described the financial situation he inherited as dire, noting that more than 80% of BOST’s assets were non-operational in 2016.
He detailed significant operational issues, including non-functional depots, decommissioned tanks, and an entirely non-operational pipeline, which severely hampered revenue generation.
Source: Myjoyonline
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