The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issues an adverse opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Toa Baja related to purchases, disbursements and property.
The Report reveals a scheme devised by supplier A to award itself work from the Municipality. These findings were referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on August 6, 2015. On April 19, 2018, supplier A and the former director of the Office of Municipal Facilities of Toa Baja, were charged in Federal Court.
In this regard, the audit details that from January 2011 to April 2014, the Municipality issued 52 disbursement vouchers for $307,882 that were awarded to supplier A for the maintenance of the alarm system, based on 89 false, fraudulent or altered quotes. The nine suppliers in whose names the quotes were presented stated, among other things, that they did not prepare or sign the aforementioned quotes, that they did not authorize anyone to submit them on behalf of their business and that no Toa Baja employee had requested that they submit quotes.
From May 2011 to May 2013, the Municipality issued 20 disbursement vouchers for $169,668 to supplier B for the purchase of air conditioners, chairs, rolling doors and bathroom remodeling among others, based on 28 false or altered quotes. The 20 checks drawn in the name of supplier B had a second endorsement from supplier A; one of the checks was used by supplier A to pay the down payment on a car and the remaining checks were deposited in supplier A's bank account.
From May 2012 to February 2013, the Municipality issued three disbursement vouchers for $12,570 to supplier C for electrical repairs and a sanitary pump, also based on false quotes. The three checks in the name of supplier C had a second endorsement from supplier A and were deposited in his account (see diagram of the scheme on page 11 of the Report).
The three-finding audit notes that supplier A was improperly paid $191,925 for work not performed. For example, maintenance services were billed for the Candelaria Arenas ward police station that was closed, also for the Julita Ross Amphitheater that had been sold prior to the signing of the contract and for the School of Fine Arts that has never been in use nor had electrical service. The interim directors of the Office of Municipal Facilities declared that they did not verify whether the services had been provided when they certified the invoices as correct.
Our auditors identified computers in the Municipality with hundreds of files containing photos and partisan political documents, of a personal nature, and on one user's computer, accesses to Internet pages with sexual content were detected. These situations are contrary to the Constitution of Puerto Rico and the Regulation for Municipal Administration.
The Report covers the period from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2014.
See Audit Report M-18-40.
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