The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued an adverse opinion on the fiscal operations related to the purchases of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA). The tests performed and the evidence revealed that the operations related to purchases, accounts payable, and disbursements were not carried out in all significant respects in accordance with the law and in conformity with Regulation 7783, Regulation for the Acquisition of Non-Professional Goods and Services and Public Bids of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources of 2009.
The Report reveals that the then-assistant secretary of Administration and other officials of the Department, and relatives of these, received $22,778 through electronic transfers from two suppliers. In addition, for the award of eight purchase orders, false quotations were considered. The purchase orders examined were issued from July 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013. From the facts, crimes of fraud, document forgery, conspiracy, and illicit enrichment, among others, may have been committed.
The audit also points out a possible improper intervention in the purchasing process for the maintenance service and fuel of the Department's airplane in 2014, for the provision of cleaning and roof-sealing services of the building of the Headquarters of the Corps of Rangers of the Department in Río Piedras, and for the maintenance services of the Carite State Forest.
These situations were referred to the Department of Justice and to the Office of Government Ethics on August 25, 2017. As of the date of this Report, the situations in Justice are pending resolution and those referred to the Office of Government Ethics were archived on January 27, 2022.
The Report comments that crimes of perjury, fraud, and conspiracy, among others, may have been committed in a scheme to appropriate public funds in the awarding of purchases to four suppliers of the Department. The then-assistant secretary of Administration obtained business opportunities for supplier A, prepared the quotations for it, and processed its purchase orders. This person began working with supplier D on March 1, 2016. Supplier A, in turn, issued checks and electronic transfers to the business of the then-purchasing officer and arranged for the DRNA to award purchase orders to suppliers B, C, and D. (See diagram on page 13 of the Report) This ninth and last report of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources covers the period from July 1, 2011 to December 31, 2016.
See Audit Report DA-23-04.
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