Alifushi Council’s 2020 audit report shows multiple financial irregularities

The local council of R. Alifushi spent nearly MVR 1 million in violation of the Public Finance Act in 2020, according to an audit report.

The report, signed by Auditor General Hussain Niyazy, shows MVR 987,476 worth of procurements by the council in 2020 were made without filling or signing the purchase order, making it possible to check on paper whether the products received were of usable quality.

Additional issues noted in the report includes the failure of the council to work to recover outstanding payments on land leased for various purposes.

Between 2019 and 2020, outstanding lease payments stood at MVR 284,238.

However, auditors did not receive the lease agreements, making then unable to verify the figure or to check whether fines for non-payment of lease was properly calculated, according to the report.

The audit also uncovered additional financial irregularities, including failure to properly manage bank account figures, failure to deposit revenue and income to public account, and failure to submit the council’s financial statement for audit.