News
Probe into alleged fraud by top RRISL officials in lab equipment purchase
View(s):The Plantations Ministry has launched an inquiry into allegations of fraud in the procurement of laboratory equipment for the Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka (RRISL).
The alleged fraud revolves around the purchase of a piece of equipment for the RRISL’s laboratory in Ratmalana. It has been alleged that the RRISL Director and several Deputy Directors had allegedly tried to mislead the Ministry by purchasing a different piece of equipment submitted as an unsolicited bid and at a much higher price. It is further alleged that they had then tried to conceal the purchase.
Plantation Industries Ministry Secretary Upali Marasinghe told the Sunday Times that the Ministry’s Audit Division had initiated a probe after information regarding the alleged fraud came to light. The probe is expected to be concluded within a few weeks, he assured.
The Sunday Times learns that the RRISL had initially called for tenders to purchase a piece of laboratory equipment known as ‘Moving Die Rheometer’ (MDR). Four companies had submitted bids.
The company that presented the highest quotation of Rs.12.9 million had also presented an unsolicited bid regarding another type of equipment known as ‘RPA Flex,’ which is an advanced version of MDR. This had been priced at Rs.15.8 million.
When the matter came before the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) appointed to evaluate the bidders, two RRISL deputy directors had allegedly advocated for the purchase of the RPA Flex equipment. The move to recommend an unsolicited bid had been opposed by the sole independent member of the committee, from the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI). He had recommended purchasing the MDR after evaluating all four bidders.
The other members however, had allegedly insisted on recommending the unsolicited bid. Accordingly, the ITI official had refused to place his signature to the committee’s recommendation that was conveyed to the RRISL’s Procurement Committee.
Meanwhile, a letter submitted by the RRISL Director to the successful bidder on August 11 this year, and which has been seen by the Sunday Times, had noted that the institute was purchasing the MDR equipment for Rs.15 8 million. The bid submitted by the company for the MDR however, was Rs.12.9 million. The Rs.15.8 million had been for the RPA Flex, leading to suspicions of an attempt to cover up the purchase.