A senior public servant at the Department of Environmental Health reportedly made a big blunder last month when she accidentally overpaid staff at the department close to $1 million, The Bahama Journal has learnt.
Minister of Energy and Environment Dr. Marcus Bethel said while he was aware of the pay error, he was unsure of the specific amount that was overpaid.
“I am aware that there has been an investigation launched over some overpayments; the exact amount I donﾒt have at my fingertips, but it does not exceed a million dollars from what I know. Most of the money has since been recovered through the work of the treasury department working with the banks because it was clearly some sort of clerical error,” Dr. Bethel.
He said the money overpaid may have been in the area of half a million dollars.
“The problem was discovered relatively early after the cheques were issued,” Dr. Bethel said.
He said most of the cheques were deposited on the employeesﾒ accounts and much of the funds had not been removed.
The minister added that once the banks understood that the money had been posted in error they froze the accounts and returned the money to the treasury.
“The small portion that has not been recovered was due to persons withdrawing monies from their accounts and that will have to be pursued by the Ministry of Finance in the appropriate way, in such methods like salary deductions,” Dr. Bethel said.
As for the female responsible for the error, Dr. Bethel said depending on the outcome of the investigations some kind of action might be taken against her.
“An investigation will have to be concluded to determine whether it was a deliberate error or a typographical error or an error in terms of oversight. The Ministry of Finance and the treasury department will complete the investigation,” Dr. Bethel said.
Sources within the department told The Journal that during September the female employee in the accounts department accidentally overpaid the staff by keying in additional zeros at the end of everyoneﾒs salary.
The Journal was told that the female although stationed in the accounts department, was not familiar with the payment system as she is not responsible for paying out salaries.
A source within the department told the Journal that the official was filling in for the accountant who was on vacation.
The woman has reportedly been transferred out of the accounts department into another department.
One source claimed that employees whose salary is $600 received $6,000, and some employees who have higher salaries were paid up to $60,000.
“We have several employees that spent the money on mortgage payments and one woman even purchased a car,” one of the departmentﾒs sources claimed.
Minister of State for Finance James Smith told the Journal that he was not aware of the blunder. However, he said he would launch an investigation into the matter.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
