Auditor General Terrance Bastian revealed that there appears to be an "alarming amount of alleged misappropriation of funds" at the Post Office Department.

Bastian said in one instance a post office cashier told auditors about "borrowing" $1,200.

"During our interviews, it was reported that a cashier at Cable Beach was short in the amount of $1,285.75," according to the 2014 Report of The Auditor General, which was tabled in the House of Assembly by Speaker Dr. Kendal Major yesterday.

"As a follow up, subsequent meetings were held and the officer concerned was interviewed, where an admission was made that the funds were borrowed. A recommendation was made that the cashier makes the shortage good."

The report said this incident necessitated a further review to ensure that "this unusual practice was not a pattern to allegedly defraud the government".

"A further review was carried out, and by all indications, it showed that this practice appeared to have occurred before," the report said.

The auditor general recommended that funds for the money orders should be remitted to the Post Office Savings Bank as a matter of urgency and the matter should be investigated by the postmaster general. Bastian said based on the audit findings it appears that the Post Office Department is in need of restructuring.

"Where there is evidence of misappropriation by staff members, immediate actions should be taken to remedy the exorbitant loss of revenue," the report said.

"The Office of the Auditor General finds these matters to be very serious and recommends that the post offices in the Family Islands report on a daily basis all Post Office Savings Bank transactions; a computerized system be implemented to track all transactions; an internal section in the Post Office is established and the Post Office undertakes a major training of all staff members."

Ragged Island
While reviewing the Post Office in Ragged Island, the auditor general said a former cashier "admitted that while she was in Ragged Island she had misappropriated a large amount of funds from the Post Office".

"This was carried out through the remittance of money orders which were sent throughout the islands of The Bahamas without any funds first being collected before issuance," the report stated. "At the time of our review, we were unable to determine the amount misappropriated."

The auditor general said an interview with the former officer revealed that she had received instructions from a senior clerk who "relayed certain instructions that money orders should be remitted in her name".

"Once these orders were cashed, the money was to be forwarded to the senior clerk's personal account at the Royal Bank of Canada or the Bank of The Bahamas," according to the report.

The auditor general said he was able to obtain the names of several people who received or remitted an exorbitant amount of money orders.

"We noted that the total amount of telegraphy money orders received or remitted by the individual for the period under review amounted to $329,287.40," he wrote. "We could not verify that the funds were first received before the money orders were processed."

The auditor general found that $63,000 of telegraph money orders were not brought to account in the Ragged Island Office.

"The postmaster general along with the appropriate staff should seek to minimize the alarming amount of alleged misappropriations, which appear to be occurring within the Post Office," the auditor general wrote.

"Where elements of theft can be proven, these matters should be turned over to the Royal Bahamas Police Force for prosecution. The idea of transferring these employees from one department to another should be discontinued. The department must move towards ensuring that government and the public funds are protected."

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