Audit Report Years Taken For Ministries To Lodge Police Reports On Missing Funds Assets

---

The Auditor-General's 2019 report said that two ministries took years to lodge police reports over missing public funds and movable assets, and in some cases, no reports were lodged
Apart from this, both ministries also need several months to over 10 years before a final report on the missing funds or assets could be submitted to the treasurer
This was disclosed in the Auditor-General's Report 2019, which said a treasurer circular stated that a final report should be released in 66 days from the day a police report is lodged
The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry took five to 853 days to lodge a police report after it detected seven cases
In four cases involving RM405,176 in losses, the ministry needed 38 days to 1,484 days to come up with a preliminary report on the missing public funds or movable assets
Another 18 days to 277 days were needed for the ministry to submit a final report for submission to the treasurer for eight cases involving RM543,088 in losses. In some cases, they have yet to submit the final reports
The losses detected included the missing aid for old folks, and general aids amounted to RM10,370 in Penang and allocation for an orphanage in Kuala Lumpur RM342,490 last year
In its response, the ministry took note of the advice given by the National Audit Department
The ministry, however, explained that the officials on the ground lacked understanding in the needed procedure to draft an early report on the losses
Things were even worse with the Education Ministry, which took between three days and 1,746 days to lodge a police report on 21 cases involving RM705,894 in losses
It took up to 1,922 days for a preliminary report in 75 cases to be submitted. In some cases, the reports have not even been prepared
For several cases, more than 11 years were needed for the submission of a final report to the Treasurer. The decision-making and approval processes could consume up to 504 days
The audit report noted the Education Ministry found a total of 133 cases of missing public funds or movable assets totalling RM1.67 million in 2018 and 2019
No actions were taken in some of the above-mentioned cases
In its response, the Education Ministry took note of the audit report's findings
The ministry's finance division pointed out that the delay in action was the result of the late response from its Responsibility Centre
The Responsibility Centre admitted they lacked knowledge on the procedures in dealing with the missing public funds. - Mkini

---