· 3 -
would have been clear to him had he checked the account that original payment vouchers totalling 293 were not available to support the entries in his Imprest Cash Book. Further, an inspection of the Revenue Cash Book would also have revealed that the Head Office Shroff had been following since December, 1917, the practice of taking collections from the Taipo Office and delaying the payment of the collections into the Treasury. The following examples are given:-
Gr
CALI Book
Dite
Amount
Treasury Receipt No.
B.te
Amount
Z
883
28
19.12.17
5014.31
66470
30.13.47
5014.31
30
15. 1.40
4751.47
71458
24. 1.48
4731.46
33
12. 3.48 1,600.59
79460
31. 3.48
1,600.69
The Assistant District Officer, Taipo, must also be held res- ponsible for et reporting the matter to the District Officer in accordance with paragraph 7 of Appendix 5.
9.
One important point referred to at Firing (G) on page 7 of the report, about which further information might be obtained, is the cashing at the bank by the Head Office Shroff of large cheques issued by the Treasury in respect of amounts to be paid out by the "istrict Officer. General Order No.30% (1) requires that "where a bank account is kept all payments of $40 or more other than those in respect of personal emoluments and allowances paid to public officers will be made by cheques.. There appears to be no reason why separate cheques for each individual amount to be paid out of 10 or more should not have been obtained from the Treasury by the District Officer and the cheques delivered by him to the individuals concerned.
11
10.
The procedure to be followed on occasions when the movement of monies is considered essential is for the Head of Department to make arrangements for a Police escort to be made available (Secretariat Circular 0.4 of 27.6.46). It seems clear, therefore, that it was the responsibility of the District Officer to make suitable arrangements for a police escort in the cases referred to at Finding (G) on page 7 of the report, and on the occasions cash was brought in by the Head Office Shroff from Un Long and Taipo and if the Secretariat Circular had not been completely disregarded by the District Officer, it would have been much more difficult for the cash to have been stolen. In this respect I cannot agree with the recommendation at para- graph (10)(H) of the report that an Executive Grade Officer should be responsible for arranging for the safe conveyance of cash. In my view it must be the District Officer's responsibility.
11.
I agree entirely with the views expressed at Finding (H) on pages 7 and 8 of the report and the recommendations at para- graph (10) (B), (D), (E), (F) and (G) of the report. With regard to the recommendation at paragraph (10)(C), I feel that the pre- war practice, whereby the accounts and cash were checked daily by the Assistant District Officers or Fistrict Officers should always be followed. In the event of the officers being absent from their stations, the accounts and cash should be checked on their return to their stations.
12.
The District officer, when first reporting the loss, and the report at paragraph 10(4), suggest that the system of accounts at the District Office is unsatisfactory and requires reorganising. The District Officer, in fact, as fur back as 26.6.17 (Appendix 2) states "For some time past, as A.D.C.N. has been aware, I have been unhappy about the accounting system in this Department". But no evidence has been produced to support the suggestion that the accounting syster requires