PAJ – Excessive retirement benefits provided to former employees without Ministry of Finance approval

Auditor General's Findings

The employment contracts for 14 senior officers provided for the payment of a retirement benefit, at the discretion of the Board. However, the requisite approval was not sought from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, in breach of that Ministry’s guidelines. In particular, one of the 14 senior officers benefitted from three pensions valued at $120,000, $56.2 million and US$554,164 respectively, while in receipt of gratuity totalling $31.33 million covering the contract period November 2004 to October 2013. The contract of another senior officer who was already in receipt of pension from the Consolidated Fund also provided for the payment of a second retirement benefit, plus gratuity amounting to $6.6 million for the period April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2015.