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Associations & Bodies

RICS ‘whistleblower’ review delayed again until next month

Since allegations surfaced in a national newspaper in November last year, Alison Levitt QC has been looking into the Treasury controls scandal.

Nigel Lewis

rics

RICS members waiting to find out if the organisation suppressed a critical internal report on its finances must now wait another month to discover its likely incendiary conclusions.

The Independent Review of the scandal led by senior barrister Alison Levitt QC says it hopes to deliver the report by mid-August to RICS government body, a month later than planned.

The report, if it supports the four whistle blowers’ contention that a critical report into poor management of its treasury controls was buried, is likely to be incendiary for the 153-year-old organisation, which is the world authority on standards and qualifications in building surveying.

This is particularly true because the shenanigans are said to have taken place around the time it was celebrating the institution’s 150th anniversary.

Operational cash

Treasury controls are the checks and balances larger businesses employ at board level to ensure they have the day-to-day cash to operate.

Levitt and her team say they are now moving into the ‘final phase’ of their investigation, which has included sifting through hundreds of witness statements from interested parties and interviews with key players.

The four NEDs involved discovered that the report was critical of RICs internal financial regulation and then sought answers from then president Chris Brooke, who announced he would step down in December last year.

His decision took place around the same time, but was unconnected to, a Sunday Times investigation that alleged four non-exec directors all had their contracts terminated after they complained about the buried report.

Visit the website of the Independent Review.

July 22, 2021

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