By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter 

krussell@tribunemedia.net

FORMER State Finance Minister Michael Halkitis questioned the motive behind the recent tabling of a report in Parliament highlighting alleged political pressure for a web shop boss to be awarded a lucrative contract for computer supplies, adding proper procedure was “short circuited” when the report was made public.

The former MP believes the report tabled last Wednesday, compiled by FTI Consulting – a Bahamas-based auditing and advisory firm, was not a complete report.

Normally, Mr Halkitis told The Tribune, reports of this nature are completed and then the auditor general conducts his own inquiries to determine the veracity of the findings and a further report would be completed and tabled.

He further denied there was any political pressure on an official to award Pete Deveaux, CEO of the Island Game web shop chain, the $1.46m computer supply contract.

He explained it is common practice for businessmen and private citizens to approach Cabinet ministers or elected officials looking for work or contracts.

Mr Halkitis said in this instance, it is the job of the elected official to listen to these people and refer them to public servants with the caveat that protocol be followed.

FTI’s report is also riddled with speculative language and “conjecture”, he said.

Mr Halkitis was minister of state at the time the contract was given to Mr Deveaux.

The report says a $1.46m computer supply contract had been awarded to Mr Deveaux who earned a 30 percent profit margin on the deal.

The revelation was made by former Ministry of Finance Financial Secretary Simon Wilson and disclosed to the auditor general, exposing multiple internal control and procurement failings in the Ministry of Finance. 

“What has happened here is the Ministry of Finance has chosen to short circuit due process,” Mr Halkitis told The Tribune.

“This is not the complete audit report so what they’ve done is put these findings in the public domain and the process is incomplete.

“I think the gist of what has been reported so far has been this point about so-called political pressure, of the suggestion of political pressure being put on the financial secretary to do business with a particular entity.

“But if you look at the second paragraph on page nine of the report, it quotes Mr Wilson as saying he did not interpret this official’s suggestion as an implicit instruction to do business with Deveaux. So, he himself says he was not under any pressure.

“It’s a normal course of business for the public, normal for business people to approach ministers to request meetings and even members of Parliament and it’s normal for those elected officials to refer them to the public officials. It (the report) goes on to say while Wilson said that he tried to accommodate the official’s suggestion that the group could be a suitable counter party and noted it is not uncommon to offer suggestions to their subordinates with the expectations that they find a way to carry these out provided that they do so in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. So Mr Wilson never said he was under any pressure and he says it’s not unusual for people to be referred to public servants provided anything done is in accordance with the law.”

He continued: “The second point I want to make is the language in the report, I said it is not a complete report and it’s up to the auditor general to take these findings into consideration and complete the report, but if you read the report all through there is language like ‘does not appear,’ ‘potential violation,’ ‘it is unclear,’ ‘may have been’ so a lot of conjecture in the report and after having gone through putting this information in the public domain it says the acting financial secretary acknowledged a need for the equipment in the public service and cited a finding by the Ministry of Finance that the cost for the goods are within the range of their open market retail value, so that within itself says the equipment was accepted and the prices paid were in the accepted range.”

This comes several days after former Prime Minister Perry Christie said it is “astonishing” the audit asserted political pressure.

He was substantive finance minister and pointing to both his and Mr Halkitis’ roles in the ministry at the time, Mr Christie said he was certain there had been no pressure coming from his side of the table. The report does not name any former minister.

The report further found that the contract was awarded to a company owned by Mr Deveaux, chief executive of the Island Game web shop chain, and his wife even though they appeared to have “no prior involvement in businesses relating to information technology or computer procurement.”

Regarding this, Mr Halkitis told The Tribune the contractual agreement did not necessarily need prior experience.

“What experience is involved? You get the specifications from the government, and then you purchase it and turn it over, so it’s not like it was a technical area, you’re purchasing equipment for the government and providing the financing so that’s not unusual. The bottom line is the Ministry of Finance accepted the equipment, put it in use and they paid the money. If there was something untoward, they could have walked away,” Mr Halkitis said.

It was previously reported that Mr Wilson, who remains on leave from his post, told FTI Consulting’s investigators he was introduced to Mr Deveaux by “a senior elected official” in the Christie administration some three months prior to signing the April 3, 2017, “lease-to-own” agreement for the computer equipment.

The report said Mr Wilson did not interpret the meeting’s outcome as “an implicit instruction to do business” with Mr Deveaux, but that the senior official “tried to accommodate” the ex-minister’s suggestion - adding that such situations were “not uncommon” within government.