According to the report, from 2018 to 2022, ASSMCA disbursed a total of 746,609 dollars for travel payments.
The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued on Thursday a qualified opinion of the fiscal operations of the Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration of the Department of Health.
The Report reveals that the Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration (ASSMCA) improperly paid 27,008 dollars in travel expenses to two employees. This finding was identified from a sample of seven employee files examined. From 2018 to 2022, ASSMCA disbursed a total of 746,609 dollars for travel payments.
The claim of travel for the employee's commute from their private residence to the office designated to perform their work does not proceed under Regulation 37, on Travel Expenses of 2008. The audit recommends that the administrator of ASSMCA take a recovery action, and verify whether this situation was repeated with other employees.
The two-finding audit notes that the purchase orders examined lacked information such as: the late-delivery penalty clause, the delivery date of the goods ordered, or the Bid Summary document. From 2018 to 2021, ASSMCA issued 231 purchase orders for 4,999,909 dollars.
In addition, other deficiencies were identified in the acquisition of goods and services, such as the lack of timely follow-up actions with the supplier on late deliveries, and employees without an official appointment who received the acquired goods.
ASSMCA's budget comes from joint resolutions of the general fund, federal allocations, special allocations from the Legislative Assembly, and its own revenues. The budget during the fiscal years 2018 through 2022 was 810,229,303 dollars, and it made disbursements of 701,535,708 dollars, for a balance of 108,693,595 dollars.
The Report recommends that the Inspector General of the Office of the Inspector General evaluate the situation discussed regarding the improper payments and determine the appropriate actions.
This first report OC-24-47 of ASSMCA covers the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2021, and is available at www.ocpr.gov.pr.
Document: OC-24-47
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