The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued an adverse opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Adjuntas. The tests performed and the evidence in the possession of the Office of the Comptroller revealed that the operations related to the purchase of vacation packages for student trips were not carried out in accordance with the applicable law and regulations.
The audit reveals that, for the trip taken to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco in 2013, the mayor and the director of Human Resources certified that they had participated in the trip along with nine students and that none had canceled their participation. However, our auditors found that one of the students included as a participant in the 2013 Trip Report, and in an additional certification by the mayor in 2017, designated as student B, had in fact not participated.
In this regard, in 2017, the same student B and two participating students declared that student B had not participated in the trip. The director of Human Resources also declared to the Comptroller's auditors that student B had not participated in the trip and that a substitute participant had not been appointed either.
This situation could have constituted the offenses of ideological falsehood, filing of false documents or data, and possession and transfer of forged documents. The actions of the mayor and the director of Human Resources may be subject to the penalties and sanctions established in the Government Ethics Act 1-2012. This situation was referred for the consideration of the Secretary of Justice and the executive director of the Government Ethics Office of Puerto Rico on November 12, 2019.
The Report also reveals, in a Special Comment, that the president of the travel agency requested that the airline substitute the name of student B with that of his wife. With this fraudulent action and with the help of the Wholesaler, the president of the agency covered the cost of his wife's trip with municipal funds for $5,280.
The agency had told the mayor that it could not reimburse the cost of canceling student B's reservation, which the Municipality had requested by fax. Nor did the agency inform the Municipality of its right to substitute student B with another.
This situation was also referred to the Secretary of Justice on November 12, 2019 for the corresponding action.
The one-finding audit notes that no evidence was found of the airline boarding passes (boarding pass) or of the participants' hotel reservations. In addition, the Municipality did not obtain quotes from at least three representative market suppliers; instead, the mayor requested the quotes by telephone from the same agency that was awarded the purchase.
Added to these deficiencies in the Municipal Cultural Exchange Incentive Program is that Adjuntas had not established the requirements for selecting the participating students and the expenses it covers, despite the provisions of Ordinance 12 of 2009. This situation results in the Municipality not applying uniform rules in the selection of participants, nor controls to justify the expenses.
The Report recommends, among other things, that the director of the Office of Management and Budget ensure that the Municipality complies with the Corrective Action Plan established by the Office of the Comptroller.
This second and final report on Adjuntas covers the period from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2016.
See Audit Report M-21-07.
To view other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.
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