An audit of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) has revealed that up to half a million dollars or more is allegedly missing or unaccounted for in the board’s financial accounts. According to reports, TTCB Treasurer Kiswah Chaitoo, a forensically-trained chartered accountant, reported at the Annual General Meeting on December 9 that over $500,000 was unaccounted for from the audited financials.
Chaitoo stated that he was unable to verify how $132,313 of TTCB funds, allocated for various purposes including administration, cleaning, match fees, training and development, traveling, as well as office and general expenses, had been spent up to July 31, 2023. Following this discovery, he began checking financial documents for previous years and found that more than $500,000 was unaccounted for.
TTCB board members expressed deep concern and alarm over these findings. Chaitoo informed the members that he reported the matter to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS). TTCB President Azim Bassarath confirmed that the issue was reported to the police, and an external auditor was hired to verify if money was misappropriated and the extent of any misappropriation.
According to sources, a female member recently submitted a resignation letter admitting to misappropriating funds, claiming an amount between $200,000 to $300,000. However, she did not confess to misappropriating the remainder of the unaccounted-for money. Some board members suspect that the true story of where the funds went is being covered up, and they believe the resigning member might be taking the fall for others.
Initially, TTCB President Azim Bassarath formed a three-man committee, including attorney Gerald Ramdeen, Henry Chase, and Sudesh Jagessar, to conduct an internal investigation. This incident follows previous concerns raised about TTCB spending, with a National Gas Company audit in 2018 alleging that millions of NGC-sponsored money were spent without proper accountability. The audit report claimed that at least 24% of funds provided by NGC were not spent in alignment with a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2013. The audit also alleged overpayments and unilateral reallocation of funds by TTCB.
In response to these earlier concerns, former board member Daren Ganga demanded an independent forensic audit, and in 2020, High Court Justice Frank Seepersad ordered an investigation into the NGC Audit Report of the TTCB. At the time, the TTCB dismissed claims of wrongdoing.
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