The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico reveals that $1,945,000 from the Coronavirus Relief Fund was disbursed to entities and individuals of the tourism industry that did not comply with the Assistance Program Guidelines approved on July 17, 2020. These Guidelines were prepared by the Disbursement Oversight Committee, whose members were the executive director of the Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority of Puerto Rico (AAFAF), the secretary of the Department of the Treasury, and the executive director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The results reveal that three tourist guides, a travel agency, and a nautical tourism entity received $65,000 with their Tourism Company certifications expired for more than a year. Another entity received $30,000 as a tour operator, without being endorsed by the Company.
In addition, an entity that since October 2020 did not manage four hotels requested the economic incentive of $1,200,000, and another entity that had not owned a hotel since 2018 requested the incentive of $600,000. Another 15-room hotel received $50,000 in excess of what the Guidelines provide.
The Special Report recommends to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Inspector General of the Federal Treasury Department, the Secretary of Justice, and the secretary of the Treasury, that they consider the results and take the pertinent measures.
On the other hand, we found that the AAFAF did not register the contracts formalized with 13 private entities. These contracts totaling $24,420,348 were granted under the Strategic Projects Program. This situation had the effect that the contracts were not accessible to the public as public documents and that public funds were disbursed without having submitted a copy of the contracts to the Office of the Comptroller.
The auditors detected that the information contained in the Registry of certifications granted by the Tourism Company is not up to date. The Registry lacked essential information for the assignment of funds of the assistance program, such as the expiration and renewal dates of the certifications of tourist guides, travel agencies, travel wholesalers, and nautical tourism entities.
Through the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Act (CARES Act), $2,240,625,863 was assigned to Puerto Rico, of which $100,000,000 was allocated to the Tourism Industry Assistance Program. From July 23, 2020, to August 11, 2021, the Department of the Treasury had disbursed $56,101,000 to 614 beneficiaries of the tourism industry. From December 18 to 29, 2020, $28,087,612 was disbursed to 14 entities under the Strategic Projects Program.
The evaluation covers the period from March 1, 2020, to August 11, 2021.
Special Report OC-24-31 can be obtained on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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