Auditor General asked to probe birth certificate printing scandal

Attorney General Anil Nandlall has asked the Auditor General’s office to probe the award of a contract to Florida-based Larry London for the printing of 100,000 birth certificates.

London, who headed the multi-million-dollar Durban Park Project and was also being paid $500,000 a month with perks for the position of Director of Parks, heads the company given the contract.

London’s company is called Universal Procurement Services.

The Attorney General has written to Auditor General Deodat Sharma to conduct a forensic audit into the facts and circumstances surrounding the U$150,000 contract.

The new PPP Government wants to know whether there was compliance with the provisions of the Procurement Act and if not, the reasons for the non-compliance.

The Government also wants to know why the services of the “conventional printer” of these documents was not sought and what the difference in quality and costs would have been.

The Attorney General has also asked the Auditor General to find out what is the status of the company, what its main business is, and whether it had experience printing similar documents.

The Attorney General has asked for the probe to also say whether any due diligence was carried out before the award of the contract and what was the need for 100,000 birth certificates at the time.