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MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021
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‘Perfect storm’ triggers COVID like ‘bad nightmare that forensic accounting rise won’t go away’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIAN accountants have revealed a significant increase in demand for forensic services to detect potential financial crime, and trace assets, arising out of the economy’s post-COVID emergence. Craig A “Tony” Gomez, the Baker Tilly Gomez managing partner, told Tribune Business that the noticeable “uptick” likely resulted from companies returning to the office environment and discovering financial transactions that stood out as suspicious or requiring answers as to the destination of funds/assets. Besides the “change in business format” enforced by the pandemic, Mr Gomez said another explanation for the increase in forensic accounting requests was that some private sector firms had been delayed by the pandemic in summoning outside specialists to come in and provide scrutiny. And he warned that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if
• Accountants see uptick amid COVID emergence • Return to offices discovers suspect transactions • Predictions of more work on govt benefit fraud
CRAIG A “TONY” GOMEZ forensic accountants were soon hired to examine the multi-million COVID19 benefits and assistance payouts made by the Government, given that the need to rapidly pay-out this $300m-plus sum due to the nature of the emergency would undoubtedly see unscrupulous persons seek to exploit the lack of controls by perpetrating benefits fraud. Mr Gomez, responding to a question from this
Top hotelier: COVID cases ‘unacceptable’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas’ top hotelier last night branded soaring COVID-19 case numbers as “unacceptable” and backed the government imposing “prudent” measures and conditions to control the outbreak. Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, did not specify what those measures to bring infection rates “currently going in the wrong direction” should be although the inference is that they
ROBERT SANDS need to balance health and the economy without disrupting tourism’s recovery. Speaking after another 118 new COVID-19 cases were detected on Friday, to follow the record 228
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Law change to open building inspections By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE government is planning to reform construction-related laws so that licensed architects and engineers can approve building works performed by their counterparts, the deputy prime minister has revealed. Desmond Bannister, in a recent interview with Tribune Business, said the legal amendments permitting third-party inspections
DESMOND BANNISTER that are outsourced to the private sector would alleviate the present burden faced by the Building Control Department’s own
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newspaper on corporate insolvencies, said “what we expected during the pandemic has not happened” in that area of work. He attributed this to the fact that many clients of The Bahamas financial services industry were invested in the capital markets, which had held up reasonably well to the COVID pressures. “We’re not seeing any uptick in that kind of business,” he added. “What we are seeing is an uptick in the need for forensic accounting, maybe because of the pandemic and change in business format. We all know one of the best ways to discover improprieties in the workplace is to have all the employees on vacation. We’re always cautious of one employee that can’t take a vacation. “Unfortunately, because of the pandemic all employees were forced to break the
cycle and work from home. As a result, a number of issues have come to light with employee improprieties and the need to bring in forensic accountants.... “If I were to put it in context, where we might have seen one [forensic accounting] case every second or third year of practice, we seeing maybe four to five over the last 12 months.” Mr Gomez was quick to point out that not all these cases may have occurred during COVID-19, and the pandemic was simply when they were discovered “due to the change in the workplace”. Forensic accounting involves the tracing of monies and assets, and uncovering a transaction “paper trail” that is usually concealed by perpetrators to determine where they have ultimately ended up.
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIAN businesses were last night bracing for the imposition of additional restrictions to combat “out of control” COVID-19 infection rates, with one saying: “It cannot be business as usual.” Fred Albury, the Bahamas Motor Dealers Association’s (BMDA) president, told Tribune Business the pandemic “is just like a bad nightmare that won’t go away” while revealing that himself and others are readying for tougher measures such as extended curfews, curb-side sales and weekend lockdowns ahead of the prime minister’s address tonight. Arguing that these restrictions were “very justifiable” given The Bahamas’ soaring COVID case numbers, with another 118 new infections discovered on Friday following a record 228 detected on Thursday, he added that “the
health of the nation must come first and said: “It’s no use making money if you are not alive to enjoy it.” However, the Prime Minister’s Office, in a statement last night, indicated that no wide-ranging or long-lasting lockdown is being considered as Dr Hubert Minnis seeks to balance livelihoods and the economy’s recovery with public health and saving lives. “The prime minister has fought throughout the pandemic to get vaccines for Bahamians. He will provide an update on additional vaccine supplies. He continues to work to save lives and livelihoods,” the statement said. “The Bahamian economy has shown remarkable growth in recent months. Bahamians are getting back to work. “The prime minister wants to protect our economic growth and job creation, ensuring Bahamian businesses can operate
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