审计长：不当付款、未登记供应商及数百万未入库存

On August 27, 2026, Comptroller Carmen A. Vega Fournier published Audit Report OC-27-25 on the Government of Puerto Rico Retirement Board, professional and advisory service contracts, and movable property. This note is assigned to September 10, 2026, as an institutional reading in a window where the OCPR page did not show a new audit that day. The date is stated: a communication from the 10th is not fabricated. The examination covers from July 1, 2021, to May 31, 2025, and revealed three significant findings and two special comments on contracting, public property, and internal governance.

The Comptroller reports $8,049 in improper payments to a contractor for services offered after the contract funds were exhausted. It also found deficiencies in the pre-audit of invoices: omissions of required data, absence of service reports, and certifications issued without authorized signatures. Additionally, it detected $293 overpaid for an advertising commission above the allowed limit. Improper payment according to the audit ≠ illegal appropriation adjudicated by a court. Deficient pre-audit ≠ proven forgery.

In procurement, the auditors identified that the Retirement Board awarded a contract of $348,333 and an amendment of $140,000 to an out-of-state corporation that was not registered in the Single Registry of Professional Service Providers at the time of contracting. The OCPR says that this violates legal and regulatory provisions. Unregistered corporation ≠ shell corporation. Administrative noncompliance ≠ criminal conviction. Contract and amendment ≠ evidence that every dollar was paid or embezzled.

Regarding property, OC-27-25 points out the absence of a physical inventory when the property manager was appointed in 2022, and discrepancies between the Board's internal records and data from the Department of Treasury. In total, 1,199 units worth $2.6 million were not recorded in Treasury; another 894 units worth $4.1 million, internally removed, remained unupdated in the official system. “Not recorded” ≠ missing. “Internally removed” ≠ destroyed or stolen. It is a reconciliation failure that the report quantifies by book value.

First special comment: although the Board had FEMA and CDBG-DR allocations and insurance claims for $28.6 million, as of December 8, 2025, reconstruction work on the former headquarters of the Retirement Systems Administration had not begun. Allocation ≠ disbursement. Insurance claim ≠ payment collected. Work not started by a cut-off date ≠ project cancellation.

Second special comment: the Internal Audit Committee did not hold meetings from its creation in June 2022 until May 2025, contrary to the requirements of Circular Letter 2022-002. Inactive committee ≠ total absence of external audit; OC-27-25 itself is an intervention by the OCPR. Non-compliance with the circular ≠ crime.

Vega Fournier said that deficiencies weaken administrative processes and increase the risk of irregularities. He urged maintaining strict internal controls, formalizing contracts, and ensuring responsible use of funds. 'Risk' is the verb of the report: Borinquen does not turn it into an accusation against a specific official. The official page does not list arrests, referrals, or convictions.

The title 'Retirement Board' should not be confused with the Fiscal Oversight Board. They are distinct entities: this audit deals with the Government Retirement Board, not the PROMESA FOMB. This clarification prevents attributing the $8,049 or property records to the federal fiscal entity.

Primary: OCPR, official page of OC-27-25. Hub 39. Topic: corruption as oversight and controls, not as a criminal case. Cousin: null. Report date Aug 27; batch reading Sep 10; reconstruction cutoff Dec 8, 2025. The three dates remain separate.

Borinquen language control: audit report ≠ criminal accusation; finding ≠ conviction; improper payment ≠ proven theft; allocations and claims ≠ disbursed money; risk of irregularity ≠ adjudicated irregularity. The primary source rules. Where the report does not identify an accused person or criminal reference, neither does this note. All amounts are maintained in dollars and use million or billion for magnitudes, never the prohibited Spanish monetary scale.