By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE amount of money missing at Bahamas Power and Light has skyrocketed to nearly $7m, The Tribune understands.

According to a source close to the matter, forensic accountants have uncovered “much more missing money than anyone originally thought”.

Government officials have not confirmed the $7m figure, but Works Minister Desmond Bannister previously told The Tribune the final figure will be released to the public when the audit has been completed.

When contacted about the reported new figure on Tuesday, Mr Bannister told The Tribune he would not be surprised if the amount of money stolen was $7m, but added the government is letting police and the auditors do their job. 

Meanwhile, a well-placed source told The Tribune that the auditors have been working “non-stop” for several weeks in order to bring the matter to a resolution.

“They (the auditors) removed all of the hard drives last week and copied them. I mean hard drives from everyone’s computers, all the managers, all their assistants, everyone’s computer is being checked to make sure nothing is being missed,” the source said.

Last week, several managers attached to a department at BPL were placed on leave.

At the time, Mr Bannister stressed the action was not an “indictment” on the employees, but said the auditors needed “full access” to all BPL files without interference by the staff.

Mr Bannister would not say how many persons were sent home, but The Tribune understands the three senior officers were suspended.

“This does not mean they are guilty of anything, we have to wait until we see the full report,” Mr Bannister told The Tribune.

“We have hired persons that are highly experienced and very thorough because we want the answers as to what happened. I told the board that this is not political and I wanted them to use their best judgment and to follow the advice of the auditors. I want them to be able to do what they feel is best so there will be no interference from me whatsoever. “There is no politics in this at all. Wherever this investigation leads us, that is what we will do.”

Mr Bannister said he is unsure how long the investigation will take, but added: “We have to be careful not to put time limits on their work.”

In late June, the administration building at BPL’s Big Pond office was shut down to staff and customers over a weekend, while the audit was being carried out.

According to a source close to the matter, the offices were closed to allow “full access” to Ernst and Young auditors to investigate the millions of dollars that have allegedly been “stolen” from the company.

The source also said that the Ernst and Young auditors were flown in from an office in the United States to conduct the investigation.