Auditor general faces lawsuit threat

In-limbo education ministry permanent secretary Dean-Roy Bernard is threatening legal action against Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis over alleged defamatory statements made in her damning report on the Joint Committee on Tertiary Education (JCTE), and has asked her to swiftly issue a public apology to avoid a lawsuit.

Bernard’s legal team dispatched on January 19 a pre-action letter to the auditor general, with a January 31 deadline for the apology, but the Attorney General’s Chambers, which is representing Monroe Ellis’ team, has asked for an extension of the time in order to respond to the letter.

The career public servant is accusing the auditor general of making “untrue, reckless, and defamatory” statements in her report against him.

Both Bernard and sidelined acting permanent secretary, Dr Grace McLean, were cited in the report for failing in their fiduciary duty and enabling the transfer of $124 million to the JCTE, which, to date, cannot be accounted for.

The revelation regarding the unaccounted-for millions was detailed in the report tabled in Parliament last October following a special probe by the auditor general office into the JCTE’s operation.

Bernard was fingered as the person who had facilitated the issuance of a taxpayer registration number (TRN) to allow for the transfer of government funds to the Cecil Cornwall-chaired JCTE in January 2017, despite being uncertain of the committee’s role.

Monroe Ellis, in the report, called on Education Minister Fayval Williams to refer the findings of the probe to the police for investigation and recommended that the finance ministry institute surcharge action against both public servants.

In a copy of the pre-action letter seen by The Gleaner, Bernard’s lawyer said that the alleged defamatory statements contained in the report were calculated “to disparage” Bernard in his office, profession, and business, and have not only reduced him in the eyes of his friends and colleagues but are causing Bernard and his family much hurt.

Efforts to reach Monroe Ellis were unsuccessful, but a member of her public-relations team indicated that she would not be commenting on the issue.

Bernard, who had been previously transferred from the ministry and is currently locked in a court battle over the matter, has maintained that he had done nothing wrong and that he did not see a copy of the auditor general’s report until the document was tabled in Parliament.

Bernard previously told The Gleaner that he has tried, without success, to obtain proof of any action attributed to him in the auditor general’s report on the JCTE.

The senior public official said he wrote to the minister of education more than two months ago for a copy of the “so-called letter” he purportedly sent to the local tax authorities requesting a TRN. To date, a copy of that letter has not been produced, Bernard said.