An audit report on the sales and distribution of petroleum products from Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Ltd (CPSTL) has revealed that more than 1.3 million entries on SAP data have been changed or deleted since 2010, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said today.
Taking to ‘X’, Minister Wijesekera said according to the audit report, most of the data was found to be deleted in 2022 during the height of the fuel crisis.
The minister said the major findings of the forensic audit conducted by KPMG on the sales and distribution of petroleum products from CPSTL were briefed to him this afternoon.
“The forensic audit was initiated based on a complaint that I made to the CID in August 2022 on irregularities at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and CPSTL. The CID after their initial investigations advised the Ministry to conduct a full forensic audit to further investigate,” he said.
The minister further said that the following are the findings reported to him by KPMG and CPSTL audit investigation officials;
- More than 1.3 Million entries on SAP data have been changed or deleted since 2010 and most have occurred in 2022 during the height of the fuel crisis
- After the complaint was lodged in August 2022 the number significantly reduced in 2023
- Massive losses have been recorded from stock holding in 2022 amounting to Rs 28 Billion and after the complaint was lodged it has come down to Rs 4 billion in 2023
- Use of outdated circulars and procedures and no adequate data available or kept to determine certain irregularities
Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that the full report will be handed over next week by KPMG and he will hand over the complete report to the CID for further investigations in order to take appropriate legal steps.
“It will also be shared with the Cabinet of Ministers, Parliament, Audited General and Attorney General’s Department to pursue the next steps,” the minister added. (NewsWire)