Anti-graft body refers Al-Bashir case to Public Prosecutor
Shaheennews-
The Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC) on Wednesday referred to the Public Prosecutor the results of an investigation into a fraudulent payroll scheme involving a service company at the government-run Al-Bashir Hospital, east of Amman.
The JIACC’s board indicated that the probe found “suspicions of corruption and financial, administrative, and legal violations that entailed tampering with public funds”, a JIACC source revealed on Wednesday.
The contract made between the hospital and the service company required the latter to employ 793 workers for administrative and technical services including culinary, machinery maintenance, cleaning, transport and gardening among other auxiliary services, at a cost of JD5.147 million.
The investigation, carried out by a special JIACC team, found out that the firm illegally slashed the number of the required labor force, which led to the delivery of the service in a manner inconsistent with the contract. The company’s staff and some hospital officials were implicated in the process, the source added.
The way the company filed its financial claims and provided supporting documentation were marred by illegal practices coupled with poor oversight and control by the competent staff in the hospital, which is one of the Kingdom’s largest public health facilities.
Such practices resulted in a massive squandering of public money, estimated at hundreds of thousands of dinars, the source said, adding that an exact estimate of the financial damage will be available at a later stage.
It also showed employee attendance sheets were not properly supervised by either party of the contract which makes it difficult to prove attendance and that leaves room for data manipulation.
Through the investigation, it was revealed that the hospital’s administration committed illegal acts which will be rectified in coordination with the Ministry of Health.
The source stated that the JIACC has requested from the Ministry to provide it with the contracts made with service companies in other government hospitals in the Kingdom to monitor and review their procedures.
