Claims of fraud premature - BOST MD mounts defence

Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage Transportation (BOST) has explained that claims of fraud are premature because the company is still trying to reconcile its stock with Bulk Distribution Companies (BDC).

An Ernst & Young (EY) report suggests that BDCs have inflated receipts of petroleum products into the BOST system.

The EY audit report claims that eight (8) BDCs liabilities to BOST stand at 2.13bn litres. But the BDCs have described this as mischievous.

Chief Executive of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors Senyo Hosi told Joy News the document the media relied on for their report was “totally doctored” and “fake” .

Senyo Hosi has gone ahead to claim that BOST has not been able to account for about $50 million worth of petroleum products belonging to BDCs

Senyo Hosi
Kwame Awuah Darko wants BDCs who suspect that their stock may be missing to come over for proper reconciliation.

Explaining raging controversy between BOST and BDCs, the MD said it all began when the Petroleum Ministry tasked Ernst & Young to audit operations of BOST.

Kwame Awuah Darko said the audit was important because after his appointment, his office was saddled with “quite significant” claims from BDCs.

The starting point of the stock-taking required BDCs to present receipts that showed how much each company had withdrawn.

The receipts technically known as an out-turn report need to be signed by two officials from BOST and the BDC's independent inspector.

“One of the things that Ernst & Young found challenging was getting the out-turn report to support the stock that had come into the system from the BDCs”, he explained on Joy News Thursday.

Giving an example, he said a BDC had an out-turn report that showed it had withdrawn 192million litres.

“But that out-turn report only bore the signature of the BDC”, which meant that two signatures were missing.

He said record-keeping is at the heart of the problem between BDCs and BOST.

Kwame Awuah Darko also explained why it is also premature for any accusation that BOST owes a BDC.

According to the MD, an oil storage plant stores petroleum products from a number of BDCs.

This means that a BDC could overdraw his stock which could affect the stock of another BDC. “BDCs eat into each others' stock”, he explained.

“The systems should not have allowed that to happen but the system allowed that to happen.

Nonetheless, BOST takes responsibility for the stock to keeps.

Going forward the MD said there is the need for BDCs to sit down with BOST and “figure out what happened”.

Reporting on the posture of the BDCs, Awuah Darko said some BDCs have been cooperative while others prefer to use legal means to address the problem.

“BOST has never gone out anywhere to make a claim of fraud. All that we are saying is that in the stock balance audit process, there are some points that various BDCs have to provide further and better particulars”, he emphasized.

Deputy Petroleum minister Benjamin Dagadu has announced that National Security has taken over investigations into claims of fraud and bribery involving the Bulk Oil Storage and Bulk Distribution Company.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline|Edwin Appiah|[email protected]