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(DARREN RATHWELL / iNFOnews.ca)

Auditors uncovered more than just spending habits when investigating the Thompson Nicola Regional District.

BDO Canada LLP found evidence of favoured vendors and personal relationships between staff at those vendors and senior management at the regional district, as published in the long-awaited forensic audit report.

One self-contracted employer, for example, named as Individual 13 in the report, was given a corporate cell phone which was paid for by the regional district.

The contractor, whose company is called Vendor 06 in the report, was hired to do various maintenance and renovation work for the regional district "over the past few years."

Giving a contractor a corporate cell phone is already an unusual move, but the person was also seen using regional district vehicles to move supplies to a senior regional district manager's home as the person did renovations there.

Like all names in the report, the senior manager's name is hidden and replaced with Individual 29, but it is clearly former chief administrative officer Sukh Gill.

READ MORE: Forensic audit uncovers 'culture of intimidation' at TNRD

"When Individual 29 tells you to get a phone, you just do it," an IT department employee told investigators.

The final forensic audit report was delayed multiple times as BDO investigators continued their work and uncovered more details beyond the previously set deadline, in Fall 2021.

Investigators continued to conduct interviews as late as Nov. 29, 2021.

The final report, published Monday, provides insight into, among other things, the extent of taxpayer spending and how personal relationships may have influenced chosen vendors for the regional district.

Board chair for the regional district, Ken Gillis, said the BDO investigation cost "enormously more than we expected," at roughly $497,500. It was originally approved to cost up to $75,000.

"At the outset we tried to find a precedent (at a municipal or regional government in B.C.)," Gillis said. "We couldn't find any precedent to go by, so staff made an estimate that was little more than an educated guess."

However, he believes it has helped the board and staff identify "gaps" in their procedures and the board has begun the work of bringing auditor recommendations into the regional district's policies.

READ MORE: 'Inappropriate culture of spending' found in TNRD audit

Among the six vendors auditors included in the final report, an employee of one of those vendors allowed Gill to stay in a vacation home for free.

Investigators found that Gill had inquired about the rent to stay in the vacation property, but when the owner said they did not rent the property, they offered Gill a week's stay in the home with instructions to maintain it.

"The senior leadership and board of (the regional district) should be cognizant of the ethical risks of requesting and receiving a significant personal benefit from a vendor to (the regional district)," the report reads.

Gillis told iNFOnews.ca that the report did not reveal any "smoking guns," but it did reveal an extensive network of relationships that may have benefited from government connections.

Investigators paid particular attention to Nandi's Flavours of India, named Vendor 01 in the report.

Nandi's was one of the most frequently visited vendors for regional district management from 2015 to 2019, where more than $27,000 in expenses were reimbursed. The bulk of those reimbursements were given in 2019, with more than $10,000.

READ MORE: TNRD forensic audit overlapping RCMP investigation

Nandi's was chosen for many events and meetings which weren't restricted to regional district meetings. Investigators found hundreds of emails in Gill's records that relate to charity golf tournament IndoCanLinks and the Rotary Club of Kamloops, both of which he was involved in.

According to the report, "several" employees expressed concerns about the frequency of visits to Nandi's and catered meals by the restaurant.

While investigating a catered event, auditors were concerned that there could have been an "inappropriate mark-up" of goods supplied by Nandi's due to Gill's close relationship. However, those concerns were unfounded.

Auditors also followed up with a claim from a regional district employee that a carpet in a room at Nandi's matched one at the regional district building.

The employee was concerned that the regional district either shared or gifted the carpet.

However, the regional district does not have enough records to investigate the claim with purchase records and inventory records unavailable, according to the report.

Investigators followed up with the claim, but were told no upgrades were done at the restaurant.

"I think what surprised me was not so much what was revealed, but it was the extent of it and how far it went. That was more than any of us anticipated," Gillis said. "I think what we have to concentrate on is making sure that we do follow all the recommendations of the auditors, and the practices that are revealed in that audit are discontinued."

While the final report does not name individuals or vendors, Gillis said the investigation has helped the regional district to address checks and balances within its expense and procurement policies.

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