'Calls for forensic audit are without basis' - WICB

The WICB has taken legal advice in response to calls for a forensic audit, claiming that it could carry the "suggestion of wrongdoing". Terming the calls to carry out the forensic audit by six former board officials as "serious allegations", the WICB has said that it is consulting Anthony Astaphan, a senior counsel in Dominica, for his advice and recommendations.

"The Board has been advised that in a number of instances the call for a forensic audit carries the suggestion of wrong doing and misappropriation of WICB funds by present members of the WICB," the WICB said in a media release, issued on Thursday. "Additionally, it suggests the auditors are either incompetent or complicit. These allegations are completely false, and seriously damaging to the reputation of the WICB, its members, and auditors.

"The WICB has therefore decided that these are serious allegations and has referred the matter to Senior Counsel, Anthony Astaphan of Dominica, for his advice and recommendations."

Last week six former WICB officials - Ken Gordon, Pat Rousseau, Anthony Deyal, Charles Wilkin, Bruce Aanensen and Imran Khan - claimed that the current board administration under Dave Cameron has seemingly become "untouchable", and not doing anything would lead to the "inevitable demise" of cricket in the Caribbean. As a remedy, the six men urged CARICOM to conduct a forensic audit to save West Indies cricket from "absolute and total downfall".

The WICB said the six men had ignored the facts. "These calls for a forensic audit by the former officials are without any basis in fact, and importantly, notwithstanding, that these former officials are aware that the WICB has for many years retained internal and external auditors."

As it pointed out last week, the WICB repeated once again today that the board's internal and external audits are done and authorised by a pair of global consultants - PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG respectively. The release also noted that all the WICB accounts are published by or available from the WICB on all its platforms, including the board's website where the reports are available.

The WICB said that the allegations "appear triggered not by fact or evidence but an emotional reaction" to its response to the CARICOM sub-committee on cricket. Members of the sub-committee have repeatedly suggested the dissolution of WICB as a starting point to bring back Caribbean cricket to its glory days.