Delinquent recommendations slightly increased as of June 30, 2007
(December 28, 2007)
OPA released its semi-annual Audit Recommendations Tracking Report for the period ending June 30, 2007. OPA tracked a total of 60 audit recommendations for the first six months of 2007. Of the 60 audit recommendations, 1 was closed and 59 remained either open or resolved. Of the 59 open or resolved recommendations, 50 were considered delinquent.
Closed Recommendation
OPA closed only 1 of the 60 audit recommendations it tracked during the first six months of 2007. The Department of Commerce implemented OPA’s recommendation to address the security of CNMI Government deposits by requiring all banks and financial institutions holding deposits of CNMI government and autonomous agencies to furnish the Office of Director of Banking with evidence and a certification that such deposits are being properly secured with bank assets.
Delinquent Recommendations
The number of delinquent recommendations slightly increased by 3 (7%) from 47 in 2006 to 50 for the first six months of 2007. Agencies with delinquent recommendations as of June 30, 2007 include the Attorney General’s Office, Department of Finance, Commonwealth Utilities
Corporation, Department of Public Lands, Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund, Northern Marianas College, and the Department of Labor. The recommendations addressed to these agencies were classified as delinquent as OPA was not informed by these agencies within the last 180 days of any corrective action taken to implement OPA’s recommendations.
Potential Recovery of $2.7 Million Referred to the AGO
As of June 30, 2007, audit recommendations in 13 audit reports were referred to the Attorney General’s Office for legal action to recover monies improperly expended. According to these 13 audit reports, approximately $2.7 million is potentially recoverable. The AGO did not provide OPA an update on these referral cases during OPA’s follow-up process covering the period January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2007, therefore, the status of these referrals remain unchanged from the
previous report as of December 30, 2006.
Potential Recovery of $3.7 Million Depend on Agencies’ Action
OPA identified potential recoveries of another $4.6 million in 8 audit reports addressed to various agencies. Of the 4.6 million, $950,289 has been partially recovered, leaving a balance of 3.7 million as still potentially recoverable. During its semi-annual follow-up process for the period covering January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2007, OPA has not received an update on the status of recovery of funds by the responsible agencies. Therefore, the balance of $3.7 that is potentially recoverable still remains unchanged from the previous report as of December 31, 2006.
Independent Auditor’s Recommendations
OPA also includes in its Audit Recommendation Tracking Report a total of 117 recommendations from 10 recent audit reports issued by private CPA firms under contract with OPA.
