THE Office of the Auditor General is currently investigating an alleged fraud involving $4.131M committed at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran made this disclosure at a press briefing yesterday at his ministry’s Brickdam Head Office in Georgetown.

He said the investigation started immediately after information was received about the fraud.
Dr. Ramsaran said he has been following the investigation closely, and while he anticipates timely closure of the inquiry, he also expects accuracy, in order that the Health Ministry can properly determine what measures to implement and disciplinary actions to take.
The Health Minister said he supports the entire procedure taking place, and wants it to get to the bottom of the fraud.
He added that the figure of $4.131 million dollars represents just what has been discovered thus far. “The investigations have not been completed as yet, so therefore that figure will increase during the course of the investigation,” he posited.
Asked if anyone has been sent on leave to facilitate the investigation, Dr. Ramsaran responded that the cashier is the only one sent on leave thus far, and to his understanding, she has been placed on bail.
After the fraud had been discovered sometime last week during an audit exercise, a female accounts clerk with responsibility for the daily cash flow to the Finance Department, and who exercised control over all petty cash transactions, was taken into police custody. She is currently off the job to facilitate investigations.
A police source close to the investigation informed this publication that the clerk told investigators that she has no knowledge of how the money disappeared, but she promised to cooperate with the investigators.