The letter in question was brought to light by Opposition Leader Honourable Marlon A. Penn (R8) during a press conference on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, and shared with the media.

The Opposition, who ironically has accused the ruling government of victimisation without producing evidence, has looked past the fact that the Premier and Minister of Finance acted against an act of alleged victimisation and was in his right to take steps to protect the public purse and has instead tried to spin the narrative to accuse the Premier of wrongdoing.

The letter is dated December 3, 2021, and shows Premier Fahie informing Hon Malone that he was writing in respect to the “Preliminary Audit Report on the BVIHSA payroll” that was prepared by the BVIHSA Internal Audit Unit dated October 15, 2021.

He said: “I am extremely disturbed of the findings and other contents of the report especially as these relate to alleged findings of gross misconduct and fraud by senior officials of the BVIHSA and other employees as well as well as the strong possibility that the scope of the alleged maladministration and fraud may be much wider than what the internal auditor has been able to detect in her limited investigations.”

'I am duty-bound to act'- Premier in leaked letter

Premier Fahie said he was also advised that the Internal Auditor was placed on administrative leave by the administrative team of the BVIHSA as a result of circumstances relating to this audit.

“As the Premier and Minister of Finance and also in the name of good and responsible governance I am duty-bound to act to ensure the institutions and agencies of government and the public purse are protected especially given the voluminous subventions pumped annually into the BVIHSA, NHI and other agencies relating to the provision of public health care over the past several years and where they have been a constant concern for the possible haemorrhaging of these funds,” he added.

The Premier, according to the letter, then instructed that a number of steps be taken as a matter of urgency.

He advised that the Chairman and the Board of the BVIHSA immediately commence a forensic audit into the finances and expenditures of the BVIHSA “inclusive of but not limited to the payroll system, procurement practices and financial management system.”

This he said was to determine the veracity of the said audit report.

He then instructed the Health Minister to see that the internal auditor be “immediately reinstated to her job and her suspension expunged.”

Premier Fahie, according to the letter, also asked for the officials caught up in the alleged preliminary report indicating fraud and misconduct, to “be immediately placed on administrative leave with full pay pending the outcome of the forensic audit and that suitable persons be appointed to act in those roles.”

The Premier also asked that all documents and evidence pertaining to the audit report should be secured and prevented from being tampered with or destroyed. The offices should be secured and the workspaces of the officers who are to be placed on admin leave and ensure that these persons are not allowed to enter the building without a security escort and only to collect personal property.

He asked for the policies of the authority to protect the independence of the Internal Audit department and to strengthen the procurement policies of the BVIHSA to protect it from abuse.

“Should these measures not be implemented forthwith I will be compelled to forward the preliminary audit to the Commissioner of Police and to call for a criminal investigation into the matters alleged therein.”

Despite the contents of the letter being clear of the well-meaning intention of the Premier, Opposition Leader Honourable Marlon A. Penn (R8) said the Premier had overstepped his boundaries.

Premier had no right – Hon Penn

Despite the contents of the letter being clear of the well-meaning intention of the Premier, Opposition Leader Honourable Penn said the Premier had overstepped his boundaries in this instance.

“The Premier has no authority to give directives to the board or to the Minister to give directives to the board about the handling and the management of the board. These are serious cooperate governance issues that we continue to see even in the heart of a Commission of Inquiry we are still usurping the legislation that we are supposed to address and maintain as legislators and going behind the board’s back,” he said.

He continued saying: “And it goes back to the competence of these boards, the board should not engage the Premier because there is a process, a governance process by which the boards are managed and should be run and there is a process where things should be done. Again we raised these issues, these are issues of concern and we raise them because they are important because these decisions and these actions have implications for us as a territory.”

It should be noted that there is no evidence that Honourable Fahie, who is ultimately accountable for the use of taxpayers' funds as Finance Minister, engaged the BVIHSA Board directly or vice versa as the Opposition has suggested.