00:00Top Cop Alessandro Kouvaro says the audit at the center of the controversy was not an internal TTPS document but
00:08a review commissioned and published by the Ministry of Finance.
00:12He says he has been speaking publicly about the document since last year and repeatedly encouraged media to obtain it.
00:19Kouvaro referenced a past Top Cop and past National Security Minister saying
00:24It is genuinely astonishing to hear that the individuals you referred to were totally unaware of this audit, especially since
00:35its findings speak directly to the financial management and internal governance of the TTPS.
00:43He says the review examined the police services procurement of goods and services as well as the hiring of staff
00:50on contract during the period 2017 to 2021.
00:54That period is now under scrutiny following revelations about a $200 million government guaranteed loan involving NIPDEC.
01:03The loan, together with other liabilities identified in the audit, has been cited by Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander as
01:12contributing to what he described as a $550 million financial hole at the TTPS.
01:19But Kouvaro says the loan represents only part of what it contained in the audit.
01:25The now controversial $200 million loan is only the surface.
01:31The audit outlines a staggering catalogue of procurement breaches, contract irregularities and financial mismanagement that collectively push the TTPS hundreds
01:43of millions of dollars into debt.
01:45According to the findings cited in the public report, the audit identified more than $300 million in confirmed liabilities with
01:54realistic total liabilities estimated at more than $350 million.
01:59It also raised concerns about contract splitting, unauthorized commitments and contracts entered into without the required authority.
02:09One of the matters highlighted by the commissioner involves a contract, he says, could have left the police service exposed
02:16to a liability exceeding $100 million.
02:19The report shows how an accounting officer, who clearly did not understand the legal responsibilities of the office he held,
02:28allowed contracts to be executed in a manner that exposed the TTPS to over $100 million being payable to a
02:38single company before I had to intervene and stopped it.
02:48The audit also raised questions about the procurement and management of equipment and services, including a DEMS, GPS and body
03:00camera agreement, which public reporting says has cost more than $100 million.
03:05Concerns were also raised about equipment described as non-functional, hazardous or unusable.
03:13Guevaro says the concerns extend beyond any single contract.
03:17Contract splitting, unauthorized commitments, premature payments and a pattern of decisions that reflected profound misunderstanding of procurement law and basic
03:29financial stewardship.
03:31The commissioner says he is relying on the expertise of the auditors in assessing the findings, while urging journalists and
03:38the public to examine the document themselves.
03:41I again encourage the media to secure and read that audit report.
03:46It reveals in black and white what was actually occurring inside the TTPS during what period and that specific period.
03:56The audit's findings have become part of a wider debate over the police service's finances and its ability to direct
04:04scarce resources toward crime fighting.
04:06Minister Alexander has said the government is now faced with servicing inherited obligations while simultaneously having to fund policing and
04:15other law enforcement needs.
04:17Public reporting on the audit says it concluded that the cumulative effect of the financial decisions was to leave the
04:24police service having to divert resources toward servicing past obligations.
04:29And Guevaro has one final assessment of how the problems developed.
04:33It is now a textbook illustration of how extreme self-importance, when left unchecked, can evolve into a severe case
04:45of Dunning-Cougar effect, with catastrophic consequences for public funds and public trust.
04:52The audit covers the 2017 to 2021 period, while the police commissioner says he has been drawing attention to its
05:00content since last year.
05:01Arvishit Umari, Rupnarain, TV6 News.
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