Loans for Released Detainees — Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs in Palestine (2016/2017)

· I say here that the negligence, laxity, lack of follow-up and oversight in some of the Commission's activities.. and the loss of some of the Commission's financial rights (which are public funds).. with the banks... is something that causes pain .and anxiety.. about the general condition of public funds... There must be accountability and correction of the situation!!.. It is unacceptable for the Commission to justify the violations noted in the Audit Office's observations without indicating an intention to correct the situation and hold accountable those officials who violated, were lax, or negligent...!

- The following lists some important observations in the Audit Office report under review:

- The Audit Office carried out a compliance audit of loans to released detainees at the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs for the years 2016-2017, and the most important observations reached by the report are as follows:

· Legal framework: There are no adopted legislations regulating the process of granting loans to released detainees at the Commission and their management in terms of (granting mechanisms, conditions, follow-up and collection), as reliance is placed on the Manual of Policies and Procedures of the General Administration for the Rehabilitation of Released Detainees in the process of granting and managing loans.

· Organizational framework: There is no annual plan specific to the General Administration for the Rehabilitation of Detainees and Released Detainees, nor is there an annual plan or strategy for the Commission's loan management.

- The numbers of loans granted in 2017 do not match across the reports issued by the Commission, which indicates a weakness in the work of the Loans Department and leads to inaccuracy in the reports it issues.

- The guarantees provided to the Commission for collecting loans from borrowers are insufficient, as checks and promissory notes are accepted as guarantees, which is evident from the existence of loan installments that were not collected.

- Some loans were granted without meeting the specified financing conditions (period of detention, age of the borrowers), and it was also found that loan files are not archived in an organized and orderly manner that ensures ease of access and review.

· Opening balances: The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs does not have any information about the opening balances with which the detainees' loan program was started.

· Bank accounts: The Commission does not have information about accounts receivable (the amount of loans that have not been repaid) for the period before 2009.

- Delay in transferring amounts from the current account to the deposit account at the National Bank and the Arab Islamic Bank, where the delay period in some cases reached 18 months, which resulted in the Commission losing interest due to the delay in the transfer in the amount of 16,989 dollars.!

- The Commission did not receive the full actual interest due on the amounts held at the Arab Islamic Bank in 2017, where the total actual interest due to the Commission amounted to 14,325 dollars, while the total interest remitted to the Commission amounted to 9,098 dollars.!

- It was found that amounts transferred from the current account to the deposit account in the National Bank have unknown sources and a value of: 45,678 dollars.!

- It was found that the average interest rate that the Commission obtained from the National Bank for the years 2009-2017 was 1.21%, meaning the Commission received interest that was lower by 8,801 dollars, if the interest had been fixed at 1.25% as practiced at the Arab Islamic Bank!

· Receivables and collection: It was found that the amounts of loans deducted from the deposits account since 2009-2017 and not recovered (collected from the borrowers) amounted to 143,634 dollars!

· Control and follow-up: The detainees' loan program at the Commission has not been audited by the Internal Audit Unit since the program began, and the Loans Department does not perform the necessary and sufficient follow-up for the projects that were financed,!

- There were errors in the data entered into the electronic loan program used by the Loans Department, relating to borrower data and the supporting documents required to obtain financing.!

· Response of the entity: "The Commission's response consisted of unconvincing justifications for the observations contained in the report only."

· Date 6-11-2020