Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

COI Report: Consider doing criminal probe against Premier’s Office

COI Report: Consider doing criminal probe against Premier’s Office

The Commission of Inquiry (COI) report has called for officials to look into the possibility of a criminal probe into the obstruction meted out to the Auditor General’s (AG) office by the Premier’s Office during an audit of the COVID-19 assistance grant programmes.

In June last year, Auditor General Sonia Webster issued a damning audit report which outlined a plethora of infractions committed by the then Andrew Fahie-led administration. She detailed several areas where there had been outright attempts to block the audit exercise itself.

According to the COI report issued by Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom, those obstructions to the Auditor General is not presently a criminal offence.

But he recommended that consideration be given to amending the Audit Act to make failing to cooperate with the Auditor General, without a legitimate excuse, a criminal offence.

At the very least, a failure by a public officer or any employee of a statutory board to cooperate with auditors without reasonable excuse should be treated as gross misconduct, Sir Gary said.

“Furthermore, in my view, given the ease with which the Premier’s Office defeated the Auditor General’s attempt to audit the COVID-19 Assistance programmes, the sanctions for a failure to cooperate with an Auditor General’s investigation and audit require strengthening.

The report offered two specific recommendations related to this particular issue.

First, Sir Gary said: “I recommend that the appropriate BVI authorities consider whether a criminal investigation should be held into the conduct of the Premier’s Office in obstructing the Director of the Internal Audit Department in respect of her audit of the COVID-19 Assistance Programmes.”

Secondly, Sir Gary stated, “I recommend that consideration should be given by the Governor as to whether an investigation, to be conducted by an independent person or persons, should be held into the conduct of the Premier’s Office in obstructing the Auditor General in respect of her audit of the COVID-19 Assistance Programmes.”

How the Premier’s Office blocked the Auditor General


During the COI hearings, AG Webster said even as she made efforts to conduct the audit, she encountered deliberate attempts at blocking her from accessing government files needed to carry out her duties.

Webster said that despite repeated requests to the Premier’s Office via email and telephone, her office was unable to obtain the relevant files and information about the COVID-19 stimulus grants.

She further stated that her office was denied access to databases, documents, reports, and other information relevant to policy development and implementation programmes.

It wasn’t her turn


Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary (PS) within the Premier’s Office, Dr Carolyn O’Neal-Morton revealed during the COI that the AG was stymied from auditing the government’s COVID assistance grants because the PS did not feel it was the AG’s turn.

Stressing that she only needed more time to comply with the Auditor General‘s request, Dr O’Neal Morton said she never intended to dishonour the AG’s Office.

At the time, the PS also denied any attempts to wilfully obstruct the operations of the Auditor General‘s Office, as was indicated in some reports.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×