Nassau, Bahamas - The following is a joint-statement from the Hon. Kenred Dorsett, Minister of the Environment and Housing, and and Chairman of the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation, Sen. Hon. Alex Storr, concerning the audited financials of the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation:
Contrary to reports in the Tribune morning daily, the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation (BMC) has been conducting audits as required by law since the Christie Administration took office. In 2012, when Itook the helm, as Chairman, at BMC it was discovered that there had not be an audit carried out since2008. To remedy this, we contracted the firm of Beneby & Co. which produced audited financial reports for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. This of course was a herculean task given the amount of transactions and clients that BMC has. These audited financials were turned over to Minister of the Environment and Housing, Hon. Kenred Dorsett. They were approved for tabling by Cabinet and tabled in the House of Assembly on May 27 th , 2015 by Minister Dorsett. The audit report for 2013 has been completed and was sent to the Cabinet office to be approved for tabling.
The Minister and the Board of Directors are committed to adhering to the law including as it regards the conducting and tabling of financial audits. Presently, BMC is having audits done from 2014 to2015, which we will present to the Minister as soon as they are completed. There was a delay due tothe fact that the principal of Beneby & Co., Mr. Jeffrey Beneby passed away causing BMC to seek the services of another company to carry out the audit process.
In light of the facts that we have laid out, we ask that the Tribune correct the front page article which incorrectly states, “Records show that financials were consistently tabled under the former Ingraham Administration, but have not been tabled since.” This statement is misleading and does not reflect the true state of the matter as the House of Assembly has on it record the date that Minister Dorsett would have tabled the 2009 to 2012 financial which were completed on his watch.
