By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

THE auditors examining claims of misuse of funds at the National Insurance Board have no questions for former NIB director Algernon Cargill despite the fact that he is at the centre of the investigation, according to Mr Cargill’s attorney Alfred Sears.

In an interview last night, Mr Sears criticised Grant Thornton for not providing Mr Cargill with a list of questions that could be asked of him during a tentatively scheduled meeting between the accounting firm and the former director. The meeting was set for yesterday.

He said he takes this stance by Grant Thornton to mean that nothing negative will be revealed about Mr Cargill in the NIB audit.

“It is a standard practice to provide, especially the principal subject... an indication of what you would like to discuss with them so they can bring other relevant information that may assist the investigation,” Mr Sears said.

“So having indicated in writing that (the auditors have) no questions for Mr Cargill, I expect that there will not be anything negative against my client because I have been asking from December and up to this date, I have not gotten any response from Grant Thornton of any issue, any question that they wish to put to my client.”

Also explaining that Grant Thornton had invited Mr Cargill to ask questions of the accounting firm, Mr Sears said: “It is not for him to question them. They’re the ones who took the engagement to carry out a forensic investigation and it is their duty to question anyone who has relevant information for the conduct of a forensic review.”

Mr Sears provided a series of e-mails sent back and forth between himself and Grant Thornton to demonstrate his claims – the two parties were discussing a date for Mr Cargill to meet with the auditors.

In the e-mails, Mr Sears asked the auditors if a meeting could be scheduled for February 7 (yesterday). He also asked if the auditors could first provide a copy of the questions they wish to put to Mr Cargill.

“Having represented forensic accountants and participated in forensic exercises, as a legal commercial practitioner over the past 20 years, subjects of investigations were always afforded reasonable notice and, in many instances, provided with the questions before the interview, to ensure due process in the exercise, especially in cases involving public corporations and entities,” Mr Sears said in an e-mail.

“We therefore insist that our client be afforded the normal due process and fairness that was afforded to the other parties at NIB with whom you and your team have met with in a deliberate and considered manner.”

In a subsequent e-mail in reply to Mr Sears, Grant Thornton confirmed a meeting for no later than February 7 at 3pm. However, no mention was made of Mr Sears’ request for an advance copy of questions that will be asked of Mr Cargill.

In response to that e-mail, Mr Sears sent another.

In it, he noted an earlier Grant Thornton e-mail which said: “We are prepared to meet with your client for him to ask any questions that he has. We have no questions for Mr Cargill at this time to complete this phase of our report.”

Mr Sears said: “Mr Cargill has no question, in a process the terms of which he does not know and the matters on which you are interested are not disclosed to him.

“It is Grant Thornton that accepted the engagement to conduct the review of NIB, an undertaking which involves our client, as the extant CEO and Director.  In the conduct of such an exercise, it is the duty of the forensic investigator to question the principal subjects in order to determine the facts for the review.

“In our view, it is the legal duty of Grant Thornton, if it comes across any information which is injurious to the principal subjects in the investigation, to present such information to the principal subjects and afford them a reasonable opportunity to controvert such allegations or to clarify the same in order to achieve a balanced and fair representation of the facts.”

Although the meeting was set to take place yesterday, it did not happen because Grant Thornton did not provide Mr Cargill with any questions, Mr Sears said last night.