Audit was ‘flawed, speculative and hasty’

On Monday, Justice Mira Dean-Armorer ended the $400 million Life Sport audit when she ruled in favour of Creed and the three others who challenged the fairness of the Central Audit Committee of the Ministry of Finance.

Taylor was adamant that the report was not thrown out on a technicality, but had been flawed as the basic fundamental principle of natural justice had not been adhered to by the audit team which did not give Creed and the others an opportunity to respond to the allegations contained in the final report before it was made public in Parliament. “The case was not thrown out on a technicality,” Taylor said, adding that his clients had the expectation that they would have been given an opportunity to respond to the allegations at an exit meeting, but ‘the next thing they knew the PM was reading it out in Parliament.’ He said it was not a ‘technical loophole’ which ended the report, but the breach of the rules of natural justice by the audit team. “The audit report is null and void and cannot be relied on for investigative queries,” he said, adding that it is to be expunged as it was of no value. “The entire process was flawed,” Taylor noted, adding that the credibility of the report was impugned and the entire process was flawed as a result of the failure by the audit team to meeting with Creed and the others before submitting the report to the Finance Minister. He said his clients had expressed doubts on the findings of the report and had evidence to show that the allegations contained were unfounded. “One of the pillars of law in all developed societies is the right to be heard,” he said. The audit was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Attorney General and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. In January of last year, then DCP Glen Hackett was reported as saying that the police probe into the LifeSport programme was expected to be long and protracted because of the enormity of the programme which encompassed a wide range of companies and entities.

The four former employees of the Ministry of Sport filed the judicial review application against the Central Audit Committee (CAC) of the Ministry of Finance, claiming its 53-page report had severe negative imputations against them.