Jamalco disputes CCA review showing US$100 million unaccounted for

Jamalco has taken issue with a Sunday Gleaner report quoting a CCA Capital Partners financial review showing that nearly US$100 million (J$13 billion) in payments by Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP) could not be accounted for.

The payments were made over a four-year period.

US$61 million was from production and capital expenditure payments to Jamalco between 2017 and last year, while US$37.5 million was from fuel oil payments to the Noble Group.

In a statement Thursday evening, Jamalco disputed the financial review claiming the multi-million dollar loss but did not offer supporting detail.

"There is not a US$100m missing from Jamalco and we intend to take all the necessary steps to prove the claims are false and hold those responsible for the claims to account," said the company's managing director Austin Mooney, while contending that the financial integrity of the company has been incorrectly called into question.

Jamalco said it was only provided with the CCA report after the publication of The Sunday Gleaner article.

"Had CCA or the former board of Clarendon Alumina Production Limited provided this report to Jamalco for review, the organisation would have been able to conclusively address this error," said a spokesperson in the statement.

According to the alumina company, the review by CCA was incomplete based on fundamental misinterpretations of the information provided by Jamalco and published before all the required information had been disclosed.

Jamalco said it has submitted to the new board of directors of CAP a full reconciliation of the "alleged gap" and has offered to subject this analysis to review by a reputable, internationally-recognised accounting firm should this be required.

"Jamalco, GAJ (General Alumina Jamaica) and CAP have all been audited by reputable, internationally-recognised accounting firms for the periods 2017 to 2020 with no negative findings identified," the Jamalco spokesperson further said. 

General Alumina Jamaica is the company through which the Hong Kong-headquartered Noble Group owns 55 per cent of Jamalco. 

The Jamaican government under an unincorporated joint venture arrangement owns the remaining 45 per cent stake through CAP.

The now contentious review prepared by the Andrew Simpson-led CCA, involved combing through four years of invoices, monthly statements and transactions posted to Jamalco's US bank account.

The findings led the review team to recommend that an intensified surveillance be conducted to unearth what it claimed were operational and management deficiencies of the managing partner.

Last Friday, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke acknowledged that the CCA review raises questions about the reconciliation of fuel supply costs to Jamalco and the distribution of these costs between CAP and Noble and promised to get answers.

"I will ask the new board to see to it that this matter is thoroughly reviewed as a matter of priority by an established accounting firm with a track record in auditing," Clarke said.

Simpson, president and chief executive officer of CCA Capital Partners, declined to discuss the findings, citing confidentiality agreements but insisted that the report could stand up to scrutiny.

Up to last month, the CCA boss had been engaged by CAP as a consultant, but after nearly two years the contract was not renewed.

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