Senate President Shawn-Michael Malone met with V.I. Inspector General Steven Van Beverhoudt and his chief of investigations, Nicholas Peru; and two members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday, according to a statement from his office Wednesday evening. The meeting was part of the ongoing investigations resulting from the joint audit of the V.I. Legislature by the local and federal Inspector Generals.
The audit in question found that in recent years, the V.I. Legislature gave senators large cash advances without documentation, doled out millions to contractors without bids or even contracts, and left itself open to theft through poor internal controls. _.jpg "Senate President Shawn-Michael Malone.")
Many senators very regularly took cash advances for travel and other purposes, but never provided any evidence for how the money was used, according to the audit report. (See related links below)
During the course of the meeting, additional records were requested from the building renovation project conducted during the 28th Legislature, according to Malone, who said he has directed the business manager to produce the requested information as soon as possible. Malone said he has established a full compliance policy relative to the ongoing federal investigation and directed that all requests are complied with immediately, according to the statement from his office.
"We are making every effort to fulfill our pledge to lead by example and to operate the Legislature with greater accountability and transparency," Malone said.
The initial audit, released in late 2011, also found that procurement practices had been wildly improper for years, with the legislative executive director personally picking contractors without competitive bids or even contracts, then approving the work and signing the checks.
Reviewing 152 payments totaling $1.7 million to 35 vendors, the inspectors found 20 vendors received payments totaling $1.1 million for major capital improvements without contracts or any justification for their selection. Sometimes the Legislature was badly ripped off as a result. And the building renovation project that Malone said was the heart of the FBI’s document request was an especially egregious example.
During the renovations of the capitol building, the Legislature paid $18.65 per square foot to install new glazed porcelain and coral stone tiles, but when the auditors sought three quotes from local tiling experts for the installation cost of the same tiles, the highest estimate was $5 per square foot, suggesting the Legislature overpaid by almost $125,000 for the job.
This is at least the second time FBI officers have come to the Legislature for documents and evidence in the past two years. The FBI raided then-Sen. Alvin Williams Jr.’s office in Frederiksted. Williams pleaded guilty to racketeering and admitted to giving and receiving bribes, among other corrupt misuses of his elected office, Jan. 17. (See related links below)
It’s time to ‘fess up, Legislature and tell us where exactly our $6.9 Million dollars went and what is being done to recoup those losses of taxpayer monies!
It is an outrage that the public, whom these Senators are elected to SERVE, have kept us in the dark this long. Hope the FBI can get to the bottom of this, name the names, punish the wrongdoers and get OUR MONEY back!
They should be doing the same “audits” in Washington. Politicians tief everyone – everywhere. It is like the scorpion and the frog.
Alana, my money is on the Legislature getting off with a slap on the hand at most. This stuff has been going on for years and will most likely continue. It doesn’t take long for a new Senator to get corrupted by the more seasoned members. Remember the old saying about the magician keeping your attention on one hand while pulling some sneeky trick with the other. With the attention on the Legislature, watch the other branches actions.