No invoices or approvals in $2m contracts…

By KEN ALI

A state agen­cy formed in the fi­nal months of the PNM Government is being accused of paying out large sums of money to an advertising agency without of­ficial approvals.

Certain senior officials of Trinidad and Tobago Invest­ment Promotion Agency (TTIPA) are said to have sought payments from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investments without signed approvals.
An agreement was also al­legedly signed just after the general election entitling the ad agency to further pay­ments for unlisted work.
In some cases, invoices were not stamped or autho­rised, and in other examples, they were said to have been backdated.
TTIPA signed an initial agreement in November 2024 and a supplemental contract in February 3 with the ad agency to develop a logo, signage, and social media channels.
The agency was also man­dated to create “a new brand strat­egy inclusive of the brand positioning, brand promise and brand personality.”
The contracts were worth a total of more than $2 million.
TTIPA was a consolida­tion of three State agencies involved in export, invest­ment and promotion of T&T.
A trove of documents provided to Sunshine To­day reveal that some senior TTIPA officials were at first confused about the scope of works for the contracts.
Certain top figures at the government agency’s fi­nance department were unaware of the second agreement, which surfaced shortly after the election.
While the new govern­ment was being installed, some TTIPA officials made hurried efforts to secure payments on behalf of the ad agency.
Most invoices were found to lack official approval sig­natures.
In one case, an official complained to the Human Resources Department that she was asked to carry out a task that left her legally exposed.
She said she was request­ed to seek payments from the Ministry without the necessary official approvals.
She said she feared she could be accused of wrong­doing.
When she was later asked to enter invoices requesting funds, she reminded the top official of the procedure for payments to suppliers.
Days after the national election, a second agreement between TTIPA and the ad agency, for $678,819.31, surfaced.
One payment was made in the sum of $11,919.38.
An invoice was submitted for the value of $319,005, but with no clear work de­tailed.
The invoice merely stated “corps comms.”
A TTIPA official is report­ed to have told colleagues he was instructed to seek payments.
He said he was going to write a report, but it is not known if he did.
A financial expert who analysed the bundle of document said there was “a clear-cut case” for a fraud investigation by the police service.
He said there was no prop­erly stated agenda of work, and completion schedule.
In addition, the supplied documents did not reveal stamped and approved in­voices.
There are calls for Trade Minister Kama Maharaj to intervene to ensure that taxpayers’ funds are safe­guarded.
The ad agency was the butt of political allegations during the general election campaign. The agency de­nied the claims.