Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Jul 26, 2025

Auditor General debunks narrative that Premier Office’s cooperated

Auditor General debunks narrative that Premier Office’s cooperated

Auditor General (AG), Sonia Webster, has disputed the narrative that the Premier’s Office made attempts to cooperate with her office during the early stages of its COVID-19 stimulus grants last year.

Appearing before the Commission of Inquiry (COI) in a marathon hearing last Friday, Webster supported her position with an email that was sent to her office. This email explicitly denied the Audit Office access to information from the Trade Department, which operates under the Premier’s Office.

The denial of access seen in the email was reportedly made by Permanent Secretary (PS) within the Premier’s Office, Dr Carolyn O’Neal-Morton, who also previously gave evidence before the COI.

“That was an explicit objection, an ongoing explicit objection because that request was made several times. It was made by the staff, and it was made by me,” Webster stated.

Asked by COI attorney, Bilal Rawat whether she felt this was contrary to any suggestion that there was, in fact, an attempt at cooperation, Webster said: “It is contrary, yes, that would be our position.”

She added: “And this required no effort on Dr Morton’s part. It doesn’t require her to put in any kind of resources. It’s simply an instruction, a simple instruction.”

What the Premier’s PS said


Dr O’Neal Morton previously told the COI she initially declined to assist the Audit Office because she felt that efforts were made to audit the government’s COVID-19 stimulus programme too soon.

At the time, she was under the mistaken impression that by law, the Audit Office could only examine programmes after they had been completed.

Dr O’Neal-Morton had also told the Audit Office that some of the information was highly confidential and that a consultative audit by the government’s Internal Audit Department was already being conducted on the programme. However, PS Morton’s latter claim turned out to be false, the COI heard.

The Internal Audit Department has stated that it, too, was unable to conduct any audit on the Premier’s programmes.

Still no information after nearly a year of requests


According to Webster, she sent Dr O’Neal a copy of the Audit Act or the constitution, which gives the Audit Office the right to request information. However, she said the Premier’s Office responded to her email or several follow-ups.

“I think after the third or fourth e-mail – Dr O’Neal would respond: ‘We will send the information we will send the report, we will send, we will send, we will send‘. But we never got anything. We never received anything, any documents, any reports, any copies of the databases that we requested, and not even access that didn’t require Dr O’Neal to do anything,” Webster stated.

“So, I don’t understand when Dr O’Neal is saying that she was, in fact, cooperating because perhaps she can indicate how she cooperated because we didn’t receive anything from the Premier’s Office,” Webster said.

She added: “We made several requests several different times over a long period of time, almost a year, and to date, none of this information we’d requested was actually given.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×