| Synopsis: |
Between October 2005 and August 2006 an employee of the Sports Institute for Northern Ireland (SINI), Richard Nash, stole approximately GBP 75,000 from the Institute. He was charged with the theft of GBP 66,547 and he received an 18 month prison sentence suspended for 2 years. The report points to a particularly weak control environment in SINI, with no controls were established over the internet banking system which was used to make more than 90 per cent of the fraudulent payments. The fraudster came under suspicion in August 2006 due to the alertness of a member of staff, but his obstruction of internal audit from January 2006 onwards should have been the trigger for a review of his activities. Once the fraud was recognized, swift action was taken to secure the company's assets and financial records and the fraudster was suspended within 48 hours. SINI took action to freeze the assets of Richard Nash, has recovered GBP 64,592 and remains committed to pursuing its outstanding losses.During the early 1990s there were increasing concerns about the adequacy of the ferry provision between Ballycastle and Rathlin Island, and it became apparent that any significant upgrading would require substantial improvements at both harbours in order to provide a safe and reliable ferry service, particularly given the introduction of a service between Ballycastle and Campbeltown in Scotland. The contracts to develop Ballycastle and Rathlin harbours both experienced significant cost and time overruns. The Audit Office found that there had not been a sufficiently rigorous assessment of the viability of the proposed Campbeltown service before the decision was taken to provide the additional facilities required at Ballycastle harbour at a cost of around GBP 2 million. The failure, to date, to secure a viable ferry service to Campbeltown has meant that these additional facilities remain underutilised. |