UPDATES: NIB report cost govt $861,000

4.05pm: Gregory Moss told auditors that he does not know a woman who needed heart valve surgery - despite a letter having been made public in which he said he was personally familiar with her and her family.

Algernon Cargill had said that Mr Moss had contacted the NIB's senior deputy director of operations, Cecile Bethel, to issue a guarantee for $15,000 to Doctors Hospital to pay for the surgery, but concerns were raised that this would be a direct violation of the National Insurance Act and Regulations.

Dr Kevin Bowe, VP of the Medical Department, told auditors that he received a call from the senior deputy director of operations. He said: "I got a morning call from Mrs Bethel and she told me that she was advised by the Chairman that a person is requiring a surgery... and that the surgeon will not go ahead with the procedure until there was a guarantee of the remaining balance. Mrs Bethel continued that Mr Moss had indicated that there was a source who had provided for part of the payment, he was not sure but thought it may have been the PHA.

"There was still a remaining balance which Mr Moss requested that NIB cover in a guarantee amounting to $15,000. It was also indicated that the surgeon is not touching the patient without getting paid. Mr Moss thought that NIB should be able to assist as this was a medical emergency."

He continued: I conveyed to him that we can't issue a guarantee as it was not an industrial injury and I was not aware of any provision in the Act to say otherwise. I said to the Chairman that there were only a couple of incidents wherein NIB issued a guarantee on non-work related injury."

When asked by Grant Thornton if he knew the patient, the audit reports that: "GM said that he doesn't know her."

The report continued: "GM then related that to prove that he does not to this day know that woman whom he gave the guarantee for he can recall that one morning, sometime after the surgery had been performed, Minister Ken Dorsette of the Ministry of Housing came to Freeport and after his business was concluded GM was dropping him to the airport. As it was still very early for his flight, they stopped at a business establishment and while they were walking in GM was approached by a woman who hugged him and said thank you. When he did not recognize her she said that she is the woman whos elife GM saved by helping to pay for the surgery at the Doctor's Hospital and she showed him her scar. GM said he remembers the woman's daughter from having seen her at rallys in Freeport and having collected a thank you card from her on behalf of her mother."

However, in January, a letter was leaked in which he sought to intervene to arrange a payment plan for the patient. In the letter to Dr Duane Sands, signed by Mr Moss and on his constituency letterhead, he wrote: "I am personally familiar with (the patient) and with her family and assure you that they are very credible and hardworking individuals whom I am satisfied with honour pay the balance to you and your institution in a timely fashion."

Gregory Moss was interviewed at Grant Thornton's office on February 7, 2013

3.12pm: FROM THE NIB REPORT: ALLEGATION 1.18 - xviii. in Affidavit

Mr. Moss also informed the hosts, Messrs. Wendell Jones and Godfrey Eneas that the Board of Directors had approved his directive to NIB to issue an ultra vires guarantee on July 28, 2012, to Doctors Hospital for $15,000 for surgery on a resident from Grand Bahama. This representation is false, as the Minutes of the Board of Directors of August 30, 2012, approximately one month later, confirm that this was not the case. At the August 30, 2012 meeting, the minutes (page 17, point 4.4.6) confirmed that at this meeting, the Board was advised that Mr. Moss had instructed NIB to give $15,000 for the person from Grand Bahama’s surgery. Mr. Moss subsequently advised the Board that prior to his instruction to Mrs. Cecile Bethel; he had been advised that this type of advance did not fit into NIB's statutory benefit parameters.

Mr. Moss had explained, at this August 30, 2012 meeting, that he was bringing the matter to the Board's attention (for the first time). A member of the Board reprimanded the Chairman, as recorded in point 4.4.12, stating that the Chairman had compromised his position as Chairman.

The matter was subsequently deferred, at point 4.4.19, to the Finance and Investments Committee for review. In summary, the Board of Directors could not have approved this benefit to this person from Grand Bahama in July 2012, as suggested by Gregory Moss on the JCN Radio and Television station on November 25, 2012, as the Board of Directors was not informed of this illegal guarantee until the August 30, 2012 meeting of the Board of Directors. Mr. Moss also informed Messrs. Jones and Eneas that he had reimbursed the Board for the illegal guarantee that he had caused NIB to issue. This assertion is also false, as is evidenced in Exhibit 18, the payment for this guarantee was provided to me by attorney, Ms. Melissa Hall, and not Mr. Gregory Moss, on the direction of the Minister Shane Gibson, with further instructions to meet with Doctors Hospital and request that the hospital not bill NIB for the illegal guarantee issued by Cecile Bethel on the direction of Gregory Moss. A copy of the excerpt from Minutes of the Board Meeting of NIB of the 30th August, 2012 is now produced and shown to me to be exhibited hereto marked "AMC-27".

3.10pm: MORE FROM THE REPORT: ALLEGATION 1.19 - xix. in Affidavit

Further Mr. Moss informed Messrs. Jones and Eneas on “Jones & Co.", that Mr. Frank Laing was an employee of NIB and was not his chauffeur. It is correct that Mr. Laing was contracted by NIB, at Mr. Moss' request, as a personal assistant to Mr. Moss, the first time in the history of NIB that a Chairman, including a Chairman from Grand Bahama, has had a personal assistant in addition to the Secretary of the Board of Directors assigned to the Board of Directors, and by extension the Chairman. However, Mr. Moss did not disclose that Mr. Laing was contracted only on July 25, 2012, and not terminated until August 22, 2012 when the Editor of The Tribune reported that Mr. Moss had contracted a chauffeur. Further, Mr. Laing did not report to any NIB office for duty during the course of his employment, as all full time employees are required to do, and when he did travel to New Providence with Mr. Gregory Moss, his core responsibilities, as it appeared to the Executive Management and the employees of NIB, were only to drive the Chairman wherever he required. There is no job description on file, although the contract of employment required Mr. Moss to provide one to Mr. Laing, and it should be noted that even the Secretary to the Board of Directors, Mr. Moss' closest employee in NIB, referred to Mr. Laing in a hand-written note to me, wherein she advised that I approve hotel expenses for Mr. Moss, as the Chairman's Chauffeur.

This note was provided to Mr. Moss via email, and Mr. Moss only reaffirmed the instructions of Mrs. Ernestine Kelson and did not correct the fact that the reference to Mr. Laing was the Chairman's Chauffeur. A copy of the said handwritten memo is now produced and shown to me to be exhibited hereto marked "AMC 28."

2.55pm: Algernon Cargill also alleged that Gregory Moss ordered that the director's office be switched with the chairman's office, and that he had told the VP of Business Support to contact an interior decorator to ensure that the office now occupied by the chairman be decorated to "a standard befitting of a Minister".

The audit team had no findings to report on this matter - although in interview with Gregory Moss, he said that he had recommended the relocation of the Director's Office. The audit says that Mr Moss said "that the Director occupied a larger office compared to the Chairman's office and that as Chairman he needed to have a larger space to allow him to do his work and hold meetings with Directors, staff and the Committees of the Board when needed."

It continued: "(Mr Moss) said that he could only recollect two things he did without prior approval of the Board and they are: 1) Switch offices of the Chairman and the Director and; 2) Switch parking spots of the Minister and Chairman to put the Minister's parking spot in a more prominent position than that of the Chairman."

The issue of the redecoration to a standard befitting a Minister was not addressed in the audit, with no indication given in the report whether the work was carried out as requested and how much it cost

2.45pm: The Tribune can confirm that the recently tabled NIB Report has cost the government of the Bahamas $861,000. Compiled by the firm Grant Thorton, the second part of the forensic analysis was tabled in the House of Assembly today. This second report was commissioned to investigate the contents of an affidavit filed by suspended NIB Director Algernon Cargill to "determine if the allegations involving Gregory Moss are factual and supported by documentation".

Comments

Ironvelvet says...

So far points go to Mr. Cargill! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Posted 15 May 2013, 3:45 p.m. Suggest removal

ThisIsOurs says...

I jus hold my head...I can't do nuttin else...my country...

Posted 15 May 2013, 4:30 p.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

These are only Cargill's allegations. I want to see the findings from Messrs Christie and Gomez of Grant Thornton. The gents who got an $800,000.00 contract from the PLP with no bid or tender process...

Posted 15 May 2013, 4:37 p.m. Suggest removal

Ironvelvet says...

Exactly! More than the total bonus paid over a 2 year period. Ridiculous! I need ShaMe Gibson to be fired too, I won't hold my breath though.

Posted 15 May 2013, 4:39 p.m. Suggest removal

PKMShack says...

MAN Call election these bunch of thieves got to go.
Tal aka PGC please please don't bring up HAI and the red shirts because the yellow shirts are only fighting amoung themseleves. Another failure but hey,,,,you get what you vote for nothing. I see why they say City of Gold,,,,,Cargill the peoples champ dis time,,,,

Posted 15 May 2013, 4:39 p.m. Suggest removal

PKMShack says...

Grant Thornton won't be revealing any such thing,,,they did there inquiry and provided results with out talking to Cargill. Cronies hired by Cronies
I'm sure they did not think Cargill would snitch them out.

Posted 15 May 2013, 4:41 p.m. Suggest removal

nationbuilder says...

THESE PEOPLE HAVE GOT TO GO!!!!!!

Posted 15 May 2013, 5:08 p.m. Suggest removal

spoitier says...

So the tribune is only going to show the bad that Mr. Moss did, how about the bad that Cargill did? It seems like you would have to read Bahama Press for that.

Posted 15 May 2013, 5:18 p.m. Suggest removal

Stapedius says...

Exactly spoiter. Its amazing to see how people are letting silly politics in the way of the big picture. I say they all did some wrong in this and should be reprimanded appropriately. But its like Cargill wants to attack anyone who questions what went on at NIB. I would agree that this is an exorbitant amount for an audit. But, if it had been done in-house I think the legitimacy and independence would have been jeopardized. What's weird though is the Tribune not perusing the audit and reporting on those findings. Instead, they choose to go after the government on its cost. The point is, yes the government should be questioned on the cost. But equally important is what was found in the report. If this isn't biased reporting I don't know what is.

What's even sillier is that people appear to be attacking Grant Thornton and its management. I don't see why its necessary to keep calling these people's names as if they even actively dealt with the report. Yes, they may be in management positions, but it doesn't mean that they personally compiled the reports. We are too personal man. Grant Thornton, like PwC, Ernst&Young, Deloitte&Touche is a reputable accounting firm. I think they all do a fine job of auditing and accounting. So please lets try to give people some credit and stop calling everyone political cronnies. These guys may not even bother with politics or care about either major political party.

Posted 15 May 2013, 6:11 p.m. Suggest removal

ThisIsOurs says...

Pot meet Kettle. It really is legitimate to put questions to Grant Thorton. Think about it, they are the professionals, the experts who have compiled a report to show how company policies were circumvented...but they must have known that they themselves circumvented policy when they did not bid for this contract....it's simply amazing...I am apolitical. But the number of blow ups in less then 1yr is there for anyone to see...I would love it if Prime Minister Christie flew back from NY, rolled up his sleeves and whipped his administration into shape...use a carrot or a stick I don't care as long it's legal...but they have to start operating within the law, as one team, for the good of *all* Bahamians

Posted 15 May 2013, 8:06 p.m. Suggest removal

Stapedius says...

I can definitely agree with that. All I'm saying is I think trying to link individuals within the firm to this is inappropriate. I guarantee you any of the other firms would have done the exact same. But again I agree with you, the PM really needs to get on top of things. I honestly feel like he is somewhat lazy. Then he tries to be all things to all people. It simply can't work. My issue with this situation is though, that it shows how easily we can be distracted in this country. We have so much work to do as a people and we just get side tracked with these stupid issues. Deal with it and lets move on. We have tendency to ruminate over issues for far too long in this country.
Then we really need to get a handle on all these leaks. Someone needs to go to jail for all these leaks.

Posted 15 May 2013, 9:22 p.m. Suggest removal

jackflash says...

Hey Spoitier - Bahamas Press said the Cargill was fired!

They are just a PLP smut rag not even worth reading and people who believe what they say idiots!

Posted 16 May 2013, 9:10 a.m. Suggest removal

spoitier says...

The Press is more PLP, however, lately they have been n the PLP about the bad job that is being done, the tribune only show dirt on the PLP.

Posted 16 May 2013, 10:07 a.m. Suggest removal

concernedcitizen says...

the bad that Cargill did was to make baby tiger and wendell jones pay their nib

Posted 16 May 2013, 6:27 p.m. Suggest removal

Collin says...

Spoitier, it is a rather substantial report. I am sure they are going to have to tackle this in a series of issues.

What can be surmised thus far is that Mr. Cargill has been truthful thus far and that MP Moss apparently has not. So Mr. who was terminated because he disobeyed our PM, should now be made to pay for the findings in the report.

Also that the Minister Shane Gibson in seeking to cover up Mr. Moss' folly, has also found himself acting outside the law. He to should be made to pay.

Posted 15 May 2013, 6:08 p.m. Suggest removal

spoitier says...

You are saying that because you read the tribune and the tribune is only going to attack the PLP, watch most of the reporting will only focus on PLP dirt.

Posted 16 May 2013, 10:03 a.m. Suggest removal

concernedcitizen says...

all of the major players are PLP , Cargill, Gibson, Moss ,,,,Moultrie ,,,,...The PLP called for the audit and fired Cargill ..The tribune has made no secret of their support of the FNM as for years the Guardian was pro PLP ,,fOX IS REPUB ,,NSNBC IS DEMOCRATIC ...Cargill probably made that or more in the private market ,,,Cargill was standing btw/ the boys and the last cash cow in the country , and he made the mistake of making certain people pay ...simple ..and unlike Tals its not worth typing about the FNM ,,WHAT THEY DO OR DON,T DO NOW has very little bearing on the country

Posted 20 May 2013, 12:16 p.m. Suggest removal

wave says...

Learn anything here kid's, even though the vote was split you ended up with this waste of money, and within a very short term in office. PLP are so smart, they create a massive scandel with in their first 12 month term and the next 48 months will look good.

Posted 15 May 2013, 7:05 p.m. Suggest removal

guyfawkes says...

From what is being reported in the press, those auditors need to refund the government $850,000 of the price paid.

Posted 15 May 2013, 11:08 p.m. Suggest removal

ThisIsOurs says...

Who oversees contracts to confirm the govt isn't being swindled? General statement. I assume that companies worldwide have forensic audits from time to time or there wouldnt be a specialized field for it. But it hardly seems like business sense if the investigation costs 20 times the amounts being investigated..and i get that sometimes its about principle...but something is waaaayyy off here. What privately run company would pay this figure? has this company performed forensic audits before? how many, how recently, how many hours, what did they charge, how does this contract compare?

Prime Minister Christie we are asking a lot of you, please get this administration in order.

Posted 16 May 2013, 4:30 a.m. Suggest removal

getrightbahamas says...

SO SAD THAT YOU PEOPLE WILL DEFEND ANYTHING FOR YOUR OWN POLITICS. BUNC OF IDIOTS! IS WRONG NO LONGER WRONG? YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO THIS KIND OF STEALING AND LYING?
GIVE ME A BREAK.

Posted 16 May 2013, 7:18 a.m. Suggest removal

concernedcitizen says...

the money he made Baby Tiger , Jones and Ricthie pay more than covered his expenses ..he had everyone scared and paying NIB even self employed fellas like me ..

Posted 20 May 2013, 12:22 p.m. Suggest removal

getrightbahamas says...

I MEAN FOR CHRISTS SAKE, HE RENTED FROM HIS BROTHER AND GAVE NO BID CONTRACTA. HE STOLE 194.000.00 AND GAVE AS MUCH AWAY TO OTHER BOARD MEMBERS. DOES THAT EVEN COUNT.

Posted 16 May 2013, 7:21 a.m. Suggest removal

ThisIsOurs says...

I actually agree with you. I want better quality candidates so I don't have to spend time arguing about who's wrong was more egregious. No more $1000, uncreased, empty suits

(Looks like the suits could be up to 1 mil now...)

Posted 18 May 2013, 7:05 a.m. Suggest removal

concernedcitizen says...

he took in over a 1 and 1/2 million from Jones , B Tiger ,and Ricthie

Posted 20 May 2013, 12:19 p.m. Suggest removal

Collin says...

You have to be joking get it right. In the house of assembly yesterday many PLP MP's including seniour cabinet members defended the Minister of Grand Bahama brother facilities being rented. This is despite the facilities not being ideally located.

So how come that is okay and you and your PLP want to villify Mr. Cargill for what amounts to the very same thing; but at least in his case he claimed not to know initially.

You are right you will defend anything for your politics. You seem incapable of making a reasoned argument without insults; hopefully one day you will mature enough to move past that.

Getitrightbahamas it seems your name should be getitplpbahamas.

Posted 16 May 2013, 7:46 a.m. Suggest removal

jackflash says...

Hey Spoitier (regarding your earlier post) - Bahamas Press said the Cargill was fired!

They are just a PLP smut rag not even worth reading and people who believe what they say idiots!

Posted 16 May 2013, 9:12 a.m. Suggest removal

Ironvelvet says...

To be objective, I believe that the Tribune pulled out certain excerpts because these are the issues that have been put into the press by Moss and by Cargill, I see it as a means of concentrating on what was in question because of what was printed prior. I believe we will see all of the report soon enough.

Posted 16 May 2013, 12:12 p.m. Suggest removal

MonkeeDoo says...

Well, the PLP will be able to go to the forensic auditors for campaign contributions next go round. Maybe even the web shops too cuz they still goin' strong despite what the people say. Another massive waste of money. Greenslade checking for seatbelts now before dark when Nassau gets scary !!!! What a country !!!

Posted 16 May 2013, 3:24 p.m. Suggest removal

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