The Integrity Commission has recommended that disciplinary action be taken against the former Executive Director of the National Education Trust (NET) in relation to reports of improper conduct and possible fraud.

This after the Commission carried out a probe into claims that Mrs. Marcia Phillips Dawkins used the signature of another NET staff member, on a document relating to procurement of services from a technology company, without consent.

During the course of the investigation, breaches of the procurement law, regulations and established procurement procedures were identified.

In its investigation report tabled in Parliament yesterday, the Commission’s Director of Investigations outlined that the probe followed media reports that Mrs. Phillips Dawkins was sent on leave by the NET Board, pending a probe into concerns about fiduciary breach.

The Commission’s probe into allegations of impropriety, forgery, procurement irregularities and fraud at NET, involves a Request for Quotation sent to a supplier by the then Executive Director bearing the Procurement Manager’s signature without the Procurement Manager’s knowledge and/or consent.

The DI concluded that the manner in which the impugned RFQ was handled by Mrs. Phillips Dawkins is inconsistent with the scheme of the Public Procurement Act.

It was noted that use of the Procurement Manager’s signature by Mrs. Phillips Dawkins on the impugned RFQ was inappropriate, unethical and misleading.

The DI’s conclusion is premised on the fact that the sharing of a Microsoft Word RFQ template, with the Procurement Manager’s electronic signature embedded for a previous procurement opportunity did not and could not reasonably constitute consent for her signature to be used in the manner it was by Mrs. Phillips Dawkins.

The DI noted that in November 2021, NET’s Board of Directors voted in favour of its Executive Director being sent on precautionary leave, with immediate effect, pending the results of an investigation into allegations of fraud, committed during the execution of her duties at NET.

The DI further noted that the Education Ministry has engaged a firm to conduct a forensic investigation in an effort to determine if the alleged procurement irregularities can be attributed to misconduct or fraud, on the part of Mrs. Phillips Dawkins.

In the recommendations, the Director of Investigations urged strict adherence to the procurement laws and guidelines pertaining to the initiation and conduct of procurement undertakings, criteria for the respective procurement methodologies and the critical responsibilities bestowed upon procurement specialists and/or practitioners to action procurement requests on behalf of the procuring entity.

The DI further recommended that the relevant officers of NET be trained and sensitized in areas identified above in an effort to ensure that the officers tasked with executing such functions understand the policy imperative and fundamental principles which underpin public procurement such as transparency, fairness, competition and value for money.

Another recommendation is that the officers of NET bear in mind and be guided by the scheme of Jamaica’s procurement law to ensure that procurement undertakings are devoid of irregularities, such as conflict of interest occasioned by the unification of functions within the procurement process.

More particularly, the NET should ensure that there is effective segregation of duties, so that the roles of initiator/requestor, procurement officer and approver in any procurement undertaking do not reside in the same individual.

This is an important counter-measure in mitigating against acts of corruption and the misuse of power/control for unethical, fraudulent or criminal purposes.

Considering the fact that Mrs. Phillips Dawkins is no longer employed to NET but remains in the employ of the Education Ministry and having regard to her conduct in this matter, the DI recommended that disciplinary proceedings be instituted against her.