The Minister of Finance in his letter to Baules and Koshiba yesterday, said that he “finds the lawmakers attacks on the radio yesterday morning and on TV last week to be without merit and highly offensive.”
“If you have some eye witness or other evidence showing who took the money, you should present that evidence to the Bureau of Public Safety and to the Attorney General’s Office. You should not make baseless accusations on the radio unless you have proof to back them up and if you have such proof, please give it to the appropriate authorities so that we can resolve this situation,” Sadang said in his letter.Sadang was referring to the letter of inquiry of Baules and Koshiba on September 15 about the missing $7,000 from the Bureau of National Treasury.It was earlier reported that $7,851.66 went missing from the Treasury Office on Dec. 6, 2006.The AGO issued a statement last week that they dropped the larceny charge against the suspect for insufficient evidence.The AGO said the matter is still under active investigation and if sufficient additional evidence is gathered, the AGO will immediately move to prosecute the case.Sadang in his letter said “I am unable to provide you with any information that differs from that in prior responses particularly that of Director Rechesengel. I agree that this is a very serious matter and I assure you that internal changes have been made. Specifically, there has been a reassignment of the supervisor in charge of cash handling.”Sadang said the law forbids him from taking the dismissal action that the lawmaker’s letter demands without some evidence of wrongdoing.“I simply cannot act arbitrarily and capriciously by wholesale dismissal of all employees who might or might not have been involved.”“Until such time the police finish their investigation and the Attorney General’s Office charges someone with the crime, I am unable to take the action you demand,” Sadang said.The Minister of Finance said the current laws regarding public service as passed by the lawmakers protect employees from arbitrary termination and other disciplinary actions, unless there is proof of wrongdoing and good cause.“Simply announcing on the radio that you think someone is or might be guilty, is not proof of wrongdoing or good cause for termination,” Sadang said.Sadang added: “I would to remind you that many good people work very hard within the Ministry of Finance and your accusations without proof demoralize their spirit and damage their reputation.”
