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After the media exposé of the fraud associated with the government pay roll, one would have expected that corrective measures would be put in place to address the future occurrence, but the opposite seems to be the case.

Latest information reaching The Chronicle indicates that though the Controller and Accountant General Department was duly supplied with names of Takoradi Polytechnic lecturers, who had gone on retirement, the state treasury continued to pay them.

The unpatriotic lecturers also went to the bank and withdrew the money deposited in their accounts, which they had not worked for and pocketed them without the blink of the eye.

The Auditor General, who exposed the fraud in its 2012 audit report on the Takoradi Polytechnic, accused the authorities for also condoning the fraud. According to the report, whereas the Polytechnic claimed to have recovered the illegal money from one of the former lecturers and paid it into government chest, they failed to provide evidence to collaborate the assertion.

The total amount paid to the former lecturers, according to the audit report, amounted to GH¢34, 236.87. The Auditor General subsequently charged the management of the polytechnic to recover the money from its former employees and accordingly inform his outfit for verification.

The report also revealed that contrary to GH¢7140 that was approved for the polytechnic by Parliament for management to embark upon foreign travels, they went ahead to splurge as much as GH¢304,041.82 on foreign travels.

Despite this huge expenditure, the report revealed that in some instances, it did not find letters of invitation and authorization and approval of the travels by the governing council of the polytechnic.

The Auditor General warned that the school might be denied funds to undertake major projects if management did not stop the strange practice.