ORAL data included unverified and contained “garbage” entries – Domelevo

Former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo has acknowledged that during his tenure, the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) team compiled unverified data, some of which he described as “garbage”.

In an interview, Mr. Domelevo explained that the ORAL team’s work was limited to collecting complaints and documents from the public without investigating their accuracy.

“I completely agree, those figures were simply a total of the complaints we received. After proper audits or investigations, the amounts could increase or decrease,” he said, responding to the Deputy Attorney General’s claim that the estimated $21 billion expected from ORAL was exaggerated.

He noted that the true value of the cases would be determined in court, where figures could change significantly.

“The real test is in the courtroom,” he said. “Even if we win $21 or $22 billion, recovering that money is another challenge altogether.”

Mr. Domelevo emphasised that court victories do not guarantee actual recovery.

“Winning a case doesn’t mean the money will be collected,” he explained, citing the Woyome case as an example where enforcement was delayed despite a Supreme Court ruling.

He clarified that ORAL’s data was raw and unfiltered.

“We only gathered and summed up the information. We did no investigations, some complaints were baseless, just noise but we still recorded everything, including the garbage,” he said.

When asked about his use of “garbage,” Mr. Domelevo said the team accepted every submission, regardless of credibility.

“We didn’t turn anyone away, people would make claims without evidence, sometimes just emails and we recorded them as received,” he stressed.

Drawing on his auditing experience, he admitted he knew some documents might have been fake or unreliable.

“Some submissions had no substance or authenticity, there’s no doubt that a lot of garbage was in the data,” Mr Domelevo stated.

Mr. Domelevo also commended the Attorney General for addressing public misconceptions about alleged attempts to influence ORAL’s work.

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