UHWI staff under the microscope

The Major Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) expects to receive statements this week from University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) staff as the police intensify their probe into procurement breaches that have resulted in millions of dollars in losses at Jamaica’s only teaching hospital.

At the same time, the Integrity Commission (IC) has launched its own probe into the practice whereby the hospital’s management routinely allowed private companies to illegally use its tax exempt status to import goods into the country, resulting in more than $20 million in losses to Jamaica Customs.

The disclosure was made on Tuesday by acting chief executive officer at the hospital, Eric Hosin, when he appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which is also probing the matter.

“The matters concerning the misuse of tax exemption status have been reported to both the police, MOCA, and fraud unit and to Jamaica Customs Agency,” said Hosin.

“We’re cooperating fully with those agencies and remain in open dialogue with their representatives in order to recover the revenue lost to the Government of Jamaica,” he added.

Hosin also shared that “MOCA has requested statements from certain employees and we’re expecting the submission [of the statements] this week”.

The acting CEO divulged that Customs has already submitted the findings of its investigation into JACDEN Limited, one of four companies that benefited from UHWI’s tax exemption status, “and we’re awaiting the remaining results”.

He revealed the names of the other three companies that benefited under prodding from PAC members. They are Supreme Laundry Services, Willman Sales, and Scientific Medical Services. Previously, only JACDEN, whose CEO is the Opposition Member of Parliament for St Andrew East Central Dennis Gordon, was publicly known. His company benefited through the importation of dialysis machines.

The Auditor General’s Department (AGD) found that in several cases, UHWI turned around and bought the imported items from the same companies that benefited from its tax exempt status for millions of dollars. Hosin told the PAC that the hospital is held liable by Customs and will have to pay millions for all applicable charges and fees since it is the hospital — and not the four companies — that is listed as having tax exempt status that is liable to the department.

Hosin said that in addition to MOCA and the fraud squad, the IC is also investigating some “specific cases” that were reported by the auditor general.

“The team members from the Integrity Commission which visited the UHWI have officially sequestered the files related to the misuse of our tax exemption status as well as the procurement files from civil works that were flagged by the AGD. We’re currently awaiting those findings from the Integrity Commission,” said Hosin.

He also told the committee that the contravening practice of initiating procurement processes after the delivery of goods or services has been discontinued.

“We have also discontinued the use of arrangements with private entities to bypass procurement guidelines and have discontinued the misuse of tax exemption status by private entities,” Hosin added. He repeatedly told the PAC that the hospital had fully accepted the findings of the AGD.

The audit report that was made public on January 13 flagged the hospital for a raft of contract procurement breaches and misuse of its tax exempt status for the benefit of private companies, which have potentially cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars.

The AGD said its probe “revealed considerable deficiencies in UHWI’s governance, procurement, and contract management processes” which, if not addressed, “could increase the risk of corruption and undermine UHWI’s ability to deliver quality health-care services”.