Ramallah Islamic Club – Palestine

-       "Ramallah Islamic Club", was established in the city of Ramallah in 1976 as a private sports association. The club's total expenditures for the period from 31-3-2017 until 30-9-2017 amounted to 59,041 shekels, and the club's total revenues for the same period amounted to 93,496 shekels.

-       The State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) conducted an audit of the activities of "Ramallah Islamic Club" for the fiscal year 2017. The audit procedures included the club's financial and administrative affairs for the years 2010–2017. We present below the texts of the main findings reached by the Bureau:

·       The Administrative Board:

1-     The previous administrative board exercised its duties without legal basis from the end of its mandate on 21/3/2010 until 8/12/2017.

·       Financial Statements:

2-     The unelected previous administration did not prepare any financial statements for the club from its election in 2008 until 2017!

3-     The club does not have any financial statements, board of directors' minutes, or archived documents in the club archive for the period from 21/3/2010 until 1/3/2017.

4-     The Bureau was unable to obtain receipt ledgers and bank account statements related to the period from 21/3/2010–31-12-2016.!

5-     Neither the preparatory administrative board nor the current board prepared consolidated historical opening financial statements for the club's period of operation up to 2017.!

·       Internal Regulations:

6-     There is no approved financial system or financial instructions followed by the club to regulate collection procedures, disbursement procedures, or cash deposits, and there are no supporting registers for recording receivables and payables.!

7-    The club does not have an accounting system, neither computerized nor manual, and there is no clear, well-controlled cycle of forms and supporting documents.!

·       Expenditures:

8-     There is no reasonable assurance available to the Bureau concerning the validity of disbursements made at the club during the years 2010–2017 due to the club's failure to organize and arrange disbursement vouchers in accordance with proper procedures, the absence of the necessary approvals on them, and the loss of five disbursement books belonging to 2017.!!

·       Revenues:

9-     There are no reasonable assurances regarding the completeness of the club's public revenues for 2017 because the Bureau was not provided with the receipt books for the club's revenues, and there is no external auditor’s report covering the entire 2017 fiscal period.!

10-                     The treasurer alone holds all authorities related to revenue collection, custody of the cash fund, and execution of cash disbursements.!!

11-                     It was not evident that the club maintained a separate cash revenue register to record all financial transactions on it (cash receipt, disbursement, bank deposit)!

12-                    There are no supporting documents at the club proving the collection of the amount of 397,493 shekels from Ramallah Municipality in 2010 up to 31-12-2017, nor evidence of its deposit into the club's bank accounts.!!

·       Waqf Lands:

13-                    Ramallah Islamic Club carried out investment on one of the plots of land belonging to the Ministry of Awqaf in the West Bank. It is a distinctive plot located in the heart of the city of Ramallah, with very high investment characteristics, and this was done without a legal agreement or an official lease contract with the Ministry.!

14-                    The club did not disclose the proceeds from the exploitation of the waqf land, which were estimated for the years 2000 up to 2019 at 25,650,000 shekels (twenty-five million six hundred fifty thousand shekels).

15-                    That the club's name was used to obtain a strategic plot of land in a prime location in the Ramallah area indicates an intention to invest for profit-making purposes, not for serving the club's objectives.!!

16-                     A judicial ruling was issued by the Ramallah Magistrate's Court in the case filed against the club stating “(the club must hand over the piece of land to the Awqaf empty),” yet the club refuses to accept the court notification..!!

17-                     The Ministry of Awqaf's failure to invest the plot of land leased to Ramallah Islamic Club caused it a loss during the years 2010–2019 of approximately 25,650,000 shekels..

·       Bank Accounts and Reconciliations:

18-                    The club does not prepare bank reconciliations or even monthly matching procedures..!

19-                   There are a number of cash withdrawal movements by the treasurer totaling 15,300 dollars and 650 dinars without approval for these withdrawals by the club's Administrative Board president and without original supporting disbursement documentation proving the validity and purposes of those expenditures.!!

-       Action: The report was referred to the Palestinian Council of Ministers and is under consideration, and the necessary recommendations to rectify the situation are being proposed. The Bureau did not send the report to the club for response due to the existence of a suspicion of corruption...!

·       (And I say, in comment), We hope that the Palestinian Council of Ministers, to which the Bureau's observations concerning Ramallah Islamic Club were referred, has ordered correction of the violations and the investigation of the noted observations, and that it investigates the reasons for the lack of supervision by the competent ministry and the Ministry of Interior, and follows up on the annual reports of external auditors for the club. How was it permissible to be lax in not writing annually to anyone who does not submit annual reports on their financial and administrative activities, audited by licensed auditors within a specified period, according to proper procedures, and why was there silence throughout this long period without any oversight!.. In addition, it is necessary to examine the particulars of the waqf land plot that was obtained from the Ministry of Awqaf without any legal documents or properly executed lease contracts (as stated in the Bureau's report), and to identify the parties involved in all these serious violations and the exploitation of the club's name, as stated in the Bureau's report..

·       We are astonished at what most matters at this club of noble mission have come to... What the Bureau's report clarifies of violations is an indication of how far the club's administrative board has deviated from the systems, rules, norms and relevant laws... and the extent to which the situation has reached in terms of suspicious harm to public funds...!!

·       Date 4-12-2020