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A report by the Office of the Comptroller concluded that the Municipality of Guaynabo invested $15,921,660 in the construction of the Rafael Ithier Music Museum, which has not been put to use nor benefited the public interest.

The audit, released today, recorded that from 2013 to 2017, 16 contracts and 22 amendments were formalized with five contractors for design, construction, inspection, supervision and soil-study services. The municipality disbursed $11.2 million on the reconstruction work of the museum, located in the former Román Baldorioty de Castro elementary school. It spent another $4.4 million on the design.

The museum work was in full swing when the convicted former mayor Héctor O'Neill resigned amid a sexual-harassment investigation in June 2015. Upon his arrival at the mayor's office, the now convicted former mayor Ángel Pérez Otero abandoned the initiative, which Héctor O'Neill's son and current mayor, Edward O'Neill, announced he would resume when he came to power.

Last year Edward O'Neill told the newspaper Primera Hora that the Music Museum would open in early 2023, but the opening still has not occurred.

In all, the audit, which covers the period from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2020, identified five findings.

The municipality also bought a ready-mixed concrete plant for $221,158 from a Kentucky supplier, to produce high-quality concrete. Of that amount, it paid $205,387 for the equipment and $15,771 for transportation and shipping services to Puerto Rico. The acquisition of this machinery, according to an audit, was intended to reduce the municipality's construction costs and to provide concrete services to other municipalities and private companies. However, this investment has not been put to use since the plant is deteriorated, covered with vegetation and had not been installed.

“In an inspection carried out on July 16, 2020, by our auditors and a municipal employee, it was observed that the plant had not been installed. It was found on the grounds of the Department of Public Works, deteriorated and covered by vegetation,” the 29-page audit revealed.

But in addition to disbursing many millions on initiatives that served no purpose, the audit found that the municipality did not hold a bid to acquire the play modules or playground of the Torrimar passive park for $124,294 . The Municipal Regulation provides that for purchases exceeding $100,000, a bid must be held. Instead, the Municipality requested quotes from four suppliers.

The Municipality disbursed another $29,450 for the payment of three fines for violations of regulations related to solid-waste management, erosion control, and general permit procedures. In addition, it paid a penalty for unsafe working conditions stipulated in the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). These situations have the effect of reducing available resources, and may cause environmental damage and unnecessary lawsuits.

The auditors detected that from 2015 to 2018, the Municipality made 907 payments totaling $35,578,580 through electronic transfers, without regulation for this type of payment processing. In addition, they did not provide for examination 17 disbursements and their supporting documents corresponding to the payment of construction works for $870,147, and the supporting documents of seven disbursement vouchers totaling $242,206 were not marked as paid. These deficiencies did not allow the correctness and propriety of those disbursements to be verified.

As part of the analysis by her office, Comptroller Yesmín Valdivieso included a special comment on the filing of charges and conviction of the then mayor Ángel Pérez Otero, who resigned from office on December 16, 2021 and after federal agents arrested him at his residence. On March 22, 2023, a jury found him guilty of bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges for receiving money from the convicted contractor Oscar Santamaría in exchange for municipal contracts for his companies.