A Canadian mission to Haiti was censured for involvement in a fraud ring that has successfully passed a federal audit..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, misconduct at the Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, led to comprehensive audits of Canadian diplomatic offices worldwide..“In 2016, numerous fraud schemes were discovered to be taking place at the mission, which involved significant financial loss and resulted in multiple staff dismissals,” said the latest Audit of Management Practices of Missions: Port-au-Prince. .The misconduct was so widespread the Department of Foreign Affairs had to appoint a financial officer to oversee the staff..“The finance officer position is not standard across the mission network and is temporary,” wrote auditors. .“It expires in September 2025. This position allows mission management to have an additional layer of due diligence and review.”.The Haitian mission costs taxpayers $5.6 million a year. .“Controls are in place at the mission to support the effective management and oversight of the procurement and payment of goods and services,” wrote auditors. .A few “instances of incomplete and missing documentation and coding errors were noted, although it is not considered a systemic issue,” the report added..In 2017, auditors discovered a scam in Port-au-Prince that cost the public $1.7 million. Because of this, thirteen workers lost their jobs. This made Canada start doing surprise checks on their missions abroad for the first time. Canada has 178 missions in other countries and spends $1 billion annually..Subsequent audits found numerous irregularities..At Abidjan, auditors found misuse of government-issued credit cards in breach of contracting rules. Unidentified employees rang up expenses of more than $10,000 at a time without approval..In Addis Ababa, diplomats spent $145,000 on a party place and hid the cost. They used fake bills so they would not get rejected, breaking financial rules. Still, no one lost their job..Earlier audits showed wine bottles were gone from the Canadian Embassy's storage in Guatemala City. There were also wrong uses of official cars in Pretoria and spending in Bogota went way over the budget. They even paid for six home appliances sent to someone's house..“No evidence could be provided to locate these appliances,” wrote auditors..Audits showed staff in Manila planned to spend $500,000 a year on utilities, but they never spent more than $418,000..In Amman, diplomats made payments totalling $542,000 to a contractor who was identified as a house painter..In Beirut, auditors found that more than half of the randomly selected contracts, specifically 22 out of 40, were paid without proper approval. Additionally, it was discovered some staff members had awarded contracts to themselves..“There could be a potential risk that individuals might be perceived to benefit,” said a report..In Jakarta, diplomats faced difficulties in balancing the embassy's cheque book and mistakenly made duplicate payments for contracts, sometimes paying two or three times for the same services..In Kingston, Jamaica, diplomats approved cost-plus contracts that exceeded their initial budgets by 50% and there was reported "no monitoring" of what they paid for.
A Canadian mission to Haiti was censured for involvement in a fraud ring that has successfully passed a federal audit..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, misconduct at the Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, led to comprehensive audits of Canadian diplomatic offices worldwide..“In 2016, numerous fraud schemes were discovered to be taking place at the mission, which involved significant financial loss and resulted in multiple staff dismissals,” said the latest Audit of Management Practices of Missions: Port-au-Prince. .The misconduct was so widespread the Department of Foreign Affairs had to appoint a financial officer to oversee the staff..“The finance officer position is not standard across the mission network and is temporary,” wrote auditors. .“It expires in September 2025. This position allows mission management to have an additional layer of due diligence and review.”.The Haitian mission costs taxpayers $5.6 million a year. .“Controls are in place at the mission to support the effective management and oversight of the procurement and payment of goods and services,” wrote auditors. .A few “instances of incomplete and missing documentation and coding errors were noted, although it is not considered a systemic issue,” the report added..In 2017, auditors discovered a scam in Port-au-Prince that cost the public $1.7 million. Because of this, thirteen workers lost their jobs. This made Canada start doing surprise checks on their missions abroad for the first time. Canada has 178 missions in other countries and spends $1 billion annually..Subsequent audits found numerous irregularities..At Abidjan, auditors found misuse of government-issued credit cards in breach of contracting rules. Unidentified employees rang up expenses of more than $10,000 at a time without approval..In Addis Ababa, diplomats spent $145,000 on a party place and hid the cost. They used fake bills so they would not get rejected, breaking financial rules. Still, no one lost their job..Earlier audits showed wine bottles were gone from the Canadian Embassy's storage in Guatemala City. There were also wrong uses of official cars in Pretoria and spending in Bogota went way over the budget. They even paid for six home appliances sent to someone's house..“No evidence could be provided to locate these appliances,” wrote auditors..Audits showed staff in Manila planned to spend $500,000 a year on utilities, but they never spent more than $418,000..In Amman, diplomats made payments totalling $542,000 to a contractor who was identified as a house painter..In Beirut, auditors found that more than half of the randomly selected contracts, specifically 22 out of 40, were paid without proper approval. Additionally, it was discovered some staff members had awarded contracts to themselves..“There could be a potential risk that individuals might be perceived to benefit,” said a report..In Jakarta, diplomats faced difficulties in balancing the embassy's cheque book and mistakenly made duplicate payments for contracts, sometimes paying two or three times for the same services..In Kingston, Jamaica, diplomats approved cost-plus contracts that exceeded their initial budgets by 50% and there was reported "no monitoring" of what they paid for.
