$.4M stolen from Local Govt Ministry

The cheques were last secured by paymaster Mohan Beharry at the Local Government Ministry.

Beharry last saw the cheques on February 1 in a vault at the ministry.

Beharry discovered that the envelope with the cheques was missing at 8 am on Friday. He reported no signs of a break-in at the office.

Beharry filed a report with police and fingerprint officers were called in. He was quizzed by the police and the homes of several senior employees of the ministry were searched over the weekend.

Yesterday, police officers return-ed to the ministry and searched for the missing cheques.

Newsday learnt that police officers conduct guard duties at the Ministry of Local Government on a round the clock basis. The officers who were on duty when the cheques were stolen were also interviewed, but they reported nothing out of the ordinary at Kent House.

Police suspect that the theft was an inside job and feel they will make a major breakthrough shortly.

Local Government Minister Rennie Dumas told Newsday yesterday that the cheques were supposed to be issued to persons involved in the women’s programme in the Rio Claro district.

He said the cheques were placed in the paymaster’s cabinet last Thursday, and that two paymasters were the only people who were in possession of keys for the cabinet.

The minister revealed that the cheques will be considered lost and new cheques will be issued.

He said the investigation is ongoing and steps are being put in place to ensure that the incident never occurs again.