By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE National Insurance Board will foot all of the costs associated with the Grant Thornton Forensic Investigation audit into its operations.

NIB Minister Shane Gibson yesterday confirmed to The Tribune that while the probe’s expenses will use funds from the Board, he was unsure of its final cost.

In addition, Mr Gibson said he had seen several invoices from the auditors that covered a frame of work at NIB, which began last year.

Speaking to reporters outside of the Cabinet office, Mr Gibson said he did not want to give an exact figure. However there is speculation by several accounting professionals that NIB could foot a bill for the audit of around $500,000 to $1 million.

The minister said: “I don’t want to guess, I want to be accurate when I give you the information. So I need to check it out.

“I’ve seen several invoices but I don’t have the cumulative amount. So I don’t want to guess. I don’t want to have to come back tomorrow and retract it.”

The agreement for the audit report was between Grant Thornton and the Ministry of Labour and National Insurance.

It included examining the contents of a letter addressed to Shane Gibson about Algernon Cargill, which was prepared by Greg Moss, and additional matters, identified by the Ministry for examination.

It has been suggested that as the investigation was ordered by the Ministry of Labour, then it should be paid for by the consolidated fund – and not NIB.

FNM Chairman Darron Cash called on Mr Gibson to act with haste in informing Bahamians what will be done with their National Insurance money.

“We do not know how much the cost will be in terms of money. It is important for the Minister as at least, in one single act of accountability, to make it clear. There are questions that exist with regard to this matter,” Mr Cash said. 

Since news broke of an ongoing spat at NIB between suspended director Algernon Cargill and ousted Board Chairman Greg Moss after they made serious allegations against each other, much of the attention has focused on Mr Cargill.

Both Mr Cargill and Raymond Wells, VP of Information Technology, were placed on administrative leave last year, a short time before the audit got underway.

However, Mr Gibson said he did not remember seeing any reference to Wells in the report nor could he say if auditors uncovered any sketchy details in that regard.