Forensic audit reveals frauds at Ceylon Petroleum Corporation

Colombo, Feb 16 (Daily Mirror) - KPMG's forensic audit into discrepancies at Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals (CPSTL) has revealed substantial losses attributed to alterations and deletions in SAP data related to stock holdings.

The forensic audit was initiated in response to a complaint filed by the Power and Energy Minister with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in August 2022.

The major findings of the forensic audit conducted by KPMG on the sales and distribution of petroleum products from the CPSTL was briefed to Minister Kanchana Wijesekera last afternoon.  

Accordingly, the KPMG and CPSTL audit investigation officials have found that 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 had significantly reduced in 2023.

Massive losses have been recorded from stock holding in 2022 amounting to Rs. 28 billion & after the complaint was lodged it had come down to Rs. 4 billion in 2023.

Use of outdated circulars and procedures and no adequate data have been available or kept to determine certain irregularities.

Accordingly, the full report on the major findings of the forensic audit conducted by KPMG will be handed over next week by KPMG and the Minister will handover the complete report to the CID for further investigations and appropriate legal steps.

The report will also be shared with the members of the Cabinet, Parliament, the Auditor General and the Attorney General's Department to pursue the next steps.